Brundibár

Tony Kushner's adaptation of the children's opera composed by Hans Krása, libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister. The original opera was first performed in a Jewish orphanage in Prague in 1942, and then in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943. The plot resembles a fairytale, in which a brother and sister, Pepíček and Aninka, need to find milk to help their ailing mother recover from illness. The children have no money, so they decide to sing in the marketplace to raise the money for the milk. An evil organ grinder named Brundibár chases the brother and sister away from the marketplace, but with the help of a fearless sparrow, a clever cat and dog, and the children of the town, the brother and sister are able to chase Brundibár away, and continue singing in the market square. In 2003, Kushner adapted the original opera into a children's picture book, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. The character of Brundibár was drawn with a Hitler mustache to emphasize the symbolism of the opera. In 2005, Kushner's book was turned into a full production of the opera; the libretto was adapted from Hoffmeister's original.

Format: Opera

Original or Prominent Production:
Premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, California, 2005. The opera then moved to the New Victory Theater for its Off-Broadway New York premiere.

Original Source Material: Original opera by Krása and Hoffmeister.

Original Language: English

Experience(s) Chronicled: Concentration and Extermination Camps | Resistance | Theater During Holocaust | Allegoric or Metaphoric Representations