Terezín

Author(s):

Two Jewish girls, Alexi—a brilliant violin player—and Violet are forced to act for their lives in a propaganda film in the Terezín concentration camp. At every turn, the girls face a desperate struggle for survival. Soon Violet mysteriously disappears and Alexi’s musical ability attracts the unwanted attention of the Nazi commandant. He gives Alexi a Faustian bargain: teach him to play the violin and he will reveal Violet’s whereabouts. But how can Alexi trust an evil man, who orders the deportation and extermination of her own people?
Format: Full-length play
Cast Size: 11M/5F
Character breakdown

Alexi
Violet
Eric
Karl Rahm
Kurt Markowitz
Udo Krimmel
Isabella
Stefan
Maurice Rossel
Gonda Redlich
Aaron
Peter
SS-Platoon leader
Mary
Rachel
Dr. Paul Eppstein

Snapshot

Original or Prominent Production: The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, New York, June to July, 2017.
Original Source Material: The play is based in part on The Terezín Diary of Gonda Redlich. Gonda Redlich was deported to Terezín in December 1941. The council of elders selected him to head the Department of Youth Welfare in the ghetto. In 1944, Gonda Redlich, his son and his wife were deported to Auschwitz, where they perished. In 1967, Czech construction workers found his diary in an attic. The play is written from the children’s perspective. The collections of art work created by children in the camp—who expressed their situation in the form of paintings and poetry, such as I Never Saw Another Butterfly—greatly inspired Tolkien to tell this story.
Nationality of Author:
Original Language: English
Production Rights Holder:

Nicholas Tolkien. Visit the play website.

Experience(s) Chronicled: |

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