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Mengele
Author(s): Philip Wharam
After the fall of the Third Reich, Josef Mengele – the notorious Nazi doctor known as the 'Angel of Death' – evaded capture and fled to South America, where he lived under a pseudonym until drowning off the coast of Brazil at the age of 67. In Mengele, he washes up on a beach, having been saved by a mysterious woman whose gentle questioning and flattery spurs him to defend his actions during the Holocaust.
Brief synopsis: In 1979 the notorious doctor of Auschwitz drowned whilst swimming off a beach in Brazil. This play imagines him washed ashore and confronted by the woman he assumes has saved him. Flattered by this enigmatic presence he attempts to justify the unjustifiable before facing a final, climactic judgment. Making powerful connections between past and present the play warns of buying into the rhetoric of bigotry.
Format: Drama
Cast Size: 1M, 1W
Running time: 75 minutes
Character breakdown
Dr Josef Mengele (M – 60s)
Azra’il (F – any age/ethnicity)
Snapshot
Notes:
Production History:
The Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaid, South Austalia, Australia – 2018
The Edinburgh Theatre Festival at Assembly George Square Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland – 2019
Theatre503 in London, England – 2020
A tour of Austria in January, including a residency in Hitler’s birth town of Braunau – 2020
Study guides or support material: Education Pack available on request
Original or Prominent Production: Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017/18/19
Original Source Material: Inspired by the novel, Right To Live, by Philip WharmonNationality of Author: English
Original Language: English
Publisher:
Lynfa Publishing
Production Rights Holder:
Timothy Marriott