The Last Rat of The Theresienstadt

THE LAST RAT OF THERESIENSTADT, a show about Sofia Brünn, a Weimar cabaret star from 1930’s Berlin who finds herself transplanted to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. In this completely foreign habitat, she forges an unlikely friendship with Pavel, a rat (played by a puppet), who despite the lack of food that has driven away the rest of his kind, remains out of love for her and her art. THE LAST RAT is show about resistance and hope, and the need to fill the soul as well as the body. A black comedy, it’s a low tech, multi-media play with music, rod/bunraku style puppetry (our titular Rat), shadow puppetry, overhead projections (artwork from the camp used to set the scene and illustrate a landscape for our story) — and three performers. https://kofest.com/product/last-rat-of-theresienstadt/

Format: One Act, Black Comedy

Cast Size:3 performers

Running Time: 75 Minutes

Character breakdown:

3 performers

Notes:

Developed at Ko during a 2017 rehearsal residency, the piece was performed in New York at The Tank and to sold-out houses at two theater/puppet festivals in Poland. It won the Jury Grand Prize, Student Jury Prize, Audience Prize, A Moment of Beauty in Puppetry awards at the Lalka Tez Cztowiek Puppet Fest, Warsaw, Poland. It will be touring to Israel in the fall.

For adults, but appropriate for mature 10-11 year olds and up. Running time: Approx 75 mins.

Original or Prominent Production:
The Tank, New York City, 2017

Original Language: English

Experience(s) Chronicled: Allegoric or Metaphoric Representations | Concentration and Extermination Camps