Session 2 Snippet

Here's a little clip of what we've been working on during the devising weeks:
We see Alfie, Lyle, Thomas and Leon 'thinking outside the box' when trying to convey anger and threat. This group was particularly impressive, because they made use of the flats and marched right through the audience.

We see Thomas here, using slow-motion when 'kicking' over the chair. In reality, SS soldiers would have been violent, but when creating a piece of theatre, Simon explained that it can be very difficult to make violence look 'real'. By slowing down what would be quick and angry emotions in real life, the group emphasized the effect it would have had on people.

Day 3 - "We are put on earth to be human"

Vergangenheitsbewältigung; the key term in the study of post-1945 Germany describing the process of struggling to deal with, or coming to terms with the past. 

Vergangenheit = past

Bewältigung = coming to terms with, mastering, 

Throughout the process of creating this drama, I've been thinking more and more about the way Germans have come to terms with what their predecessors or ancestors went through; either as perpetrator, bystander or victim. When remembering the build up to the tragedy of the Holocaust, we must take into account that many German citizens who were not Jews were totally swept away with the powerful, persuading speeches that Hitler and the Nazi party delivered. It's hard to really know, from the perspective of a native Brit and also a student of German, whether people really believed the ideals of the Nazi party. Themes to consider are: confrontation, silence, outrage, remembrance and reconciliation.

Will there ever come a time when Germany will ever stop feeling the burden of what happened to the millions of Jews, homosexuals and ethnic minorities, who were murdered?

In previous weeks, Anthony asked the group whether it is better to forget the bad things we have done and move on, or should we remember and learn the lessons? Here was the feedback:

"If something bad happens then it can grow into a fear and it can stunt you from doing things. You’ve got to remember that it is in the past, it is a mistake you've made and you know not to do it again."

So, taking this into consideration for this week's session, Anthony asked the group to consider memorials as a way to deal with the past, to channel emotions and lessons learnt in something physical. Pictured in the sidebar, are some of the global memorials (Denkmal) in Germany.

In groups of 3 on an A2 poster, the young people came up with visual and theatrical forms of memorials which focussed on the following questions:

• What should holocaust memorials in the UK should look like? 
• Who is it for? 
• What is the function? Never forget? 

The brief – 

• Draw – an abstract one 
• Present - one that uses people in it 
• Discussion - after the presentation 
• Never again – how do you make sure the Holocaust never happens again?

Group 1:

Rebecca, Alicia, Sam

The Impossible Triangle.

Within the triangle an hourglass is suspended, however as the impossible triangle never ends - therefore the 'memories cannot drain away like sand.'

Group 2:

Jonah, Amber, Megan

24 bulbs, illuminating a Star of David in the middle. One bulb goes out on the hour, every hour so that eventually the Star of David is no longer visible. Using light and dark to represent the destruction of family homes and Jewish lives, this group's visual idea creates a high-impact memorial. 

Group 3:

Erin, Alfie, Leon

Essentially a globe, within which a flame never stops burning

Group 4:

Lyle, Katie, Thomas

Two sides to the memorial: Maze vs. Museum

"This side won't be brutal, it will be interesting"

"One side is a maze which represents the feeling of being trapped"

Group 5:

Rory, Ella, Sam

I don't have a photograph of group 5's final presentation, but like Jews had to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothes, Roma people had to wear a pink triangle and homosexuals had to wear a red triangle. This group came up with two visual ways to represent the triangles. First, they imagined an hourglass to symbolise the impending trickle of time, within that image they imagined two triangles. Easily presented visually by Person 1 standing with their arms in a V shape and Person 2 standing behind them, with their arms in an up-side down V  shape. 

Second, the group imagined an interactive memorial. This seemed much more difficult for their audience to understand. Picture this - two triangles laid flat one on top of the other. Next, there is a 'pole' that goes through the centre or edge (depending on which is more logistically viable) of the two triangles. Viewers of the memorial are invited to move and arrange the two triangles, which eventually should fit into place to form either the Star of David or two interlocking triangles (one pink, one red). I admired the group's creativity and abstract ideas, despite one flaw containing the long debated question; should a memorial be enjoyed? Ella explained that the whole point of this memorial was to make viewers 'think'. Well said. 

Leeandra Guy - Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht

Broken glass, broken lives,

Glass in shards, like crystal knives-

On a night of broken glass.

Broken hopes, broken dreams,

The shards reflect our lives, it seems-

On the night of broken glass.

Broken homes, broken hearts,

Parents, children; torn apart-

On this night of broken glass.

Broken buildings, broken souls,

Broken synagogues and torah scrolls-

On this night of broken glass.

Broken pride, broken stand,

We are shamed with our religious brand-

On that night of broken glass.

Broken city, broken town,

Within disconsolation we drown-

During that night of broken glass.

Broken country, broken land,

Ruined lives once so grand-

From the night of Broken Glass.

Day 2 - What are people for? What are you for?

If you were living in Germany at the time of Nazi rule, would you have resisted? Or would you have been a by-stander?

This was the theme for the second session. We discussed how difficult it might have been for German citizens to resist against the SS soldiers on the Night of Broken Glass/Kristallnacht (November 1938), when Jewish homes and businesses were completely destroyed in an act of devastating anti-Semitism.

Anthony asked the group of young people if they thought they would have reacted against the perpetrators on that fateful evening. Jonah and Lyle both asserted that they would have tried to help the Jews, instead of being a by-stander. But would it have been possible, in reality? Most Germans were too scared about what would happen to them if they were caught trying to help, and lived in fear and paranoia from relatives and neighbours ratting them out to the government or SS soldiers. Germans who did resist were often thrown into prison or concentration camps; and in one case study on resistance,  an on-looker shouted, "How cowardly!" (to the SS soldiers outnumbering a Jewish family) and this man was simply taken away by military soldiers and never returned.

Three types of people were mentioned during the session:

• Perpetrators – those who carried out, ordered, or arranged for the killing of the Jews and other victims of the Nazi regime

• Fellow travellers – they were not directly responsible for Nazi crimes but they voted for Hitler in 1933, supported the Nazis during the dictatorship, profited from the theft of Jewish property and the removal of Jews from public life, and worked for a Nazi victory in Europe

• Bystanders – they were less enthusiastic about Hitler, even disgruntled or alienated as Germany’s military campaign faltered. But they generally stood by and witnessed persecution of their Jewish neighbours without protest.

Alfie and Amber in the Warm-Up 

Rebecca, Leon, Jonah, Amber showing 'perpetrators'

using chairs to represent broken lives and belongings

thrown onto the street after Kristallnacht

Jonah and Erin

'Bystander and Victim'

 Lyle, Alicia, Amber and Sam

A mirror of opposites

Amber, Rebecca, Leon, Jonah and Erin 

Star of David

Alfie, Lyle, Thomas and Leon

A case study of Perpetrator and Victim

Rory, Alicia, Sam, Megan and Ella 

Bystanders and the chain of property.

Like in the previous session, the group were extremely attentive and responded to Anthony's questions about the Holocaust and the 'what would you have done?' topic with well-thought answers and sensitivity. 

I want to leave this post with some quotes that reoccur in the devising process each week.

"If you know your history

Then you would know where you're coming from

Then you wouldn't have to ask me

Who the heck do I think I am"

Bob Marley, 1983

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.”

Tolkien, 1954

T.S. Eliot - The Hollow Men

The Hollow Men

I

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

Our dried voices, when

We whisper together

Are quiet and meaningless

As wind in dry grass

Or rats' feet over broken glass

In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed

With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom

Remember us—if at all—not as lost

Violent souls, but only

As the hollow men

The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams

In death's dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There, the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column

There, is a tree swinging

And voices are

In the wind's singing

More distant and more solemn

Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer

In death's dream kingdom

Let me also wear

Such deliberate disguises

Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves

In a field

Behaving as the wind behaves

No nearer—

Not that final meeting

In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land

This is cactus land

Here the stone images

Are raised, here they receive

The supplication of a dead man's hand

Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this

In death's other kingdom

Waking alone

At the hour when we are

Trembling with tenderness

Lips that would kiss

Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here

There are no eyes here

In this valley of dying stars

In this hollow valley

This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places

We grope together

And avoid speech

Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless

The eyes reappear

As the perpetual star

Multifoliate rose

Of death's twilight kingdom

The hope only

Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear

Prickly pear prickly pear

Here we go round the prickly pear

At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception

And the creation

Between the emotion

And the response

Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire

And the spasm

Between the potency

And the existence

Between the essence

And the descent

Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is

Life is

For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

Day 1 - First Impressions, Mirrors and Devising

It is only fitting to begin this blog with a recap of the first session working with Escape: Contemporary Youth Theatre and Anthony Haddon (director, from 'The Blahs'), in which we started to piece together the performance for the Transnational Holocaust Memorial Conference in January 2015.

Simon, the artistic director of Escape:CYT, began the session by introducing Anthony and I to the group of young people who attend weekly sessions at Lawnswood School. After Anthony explained the exciting new project to the group, I played some games with the young people to get some creative ideas rolling and to get some energy in the room.

If you've ever seen the TV programme, 'Whose line is it anyway?', then you may be familiar with the game, 'helping hands'. Player 1 cannot use his or her arms, placing them back their back, whilst Player 2 provides the arms for Player 1 and links them through the armpits; creating a humourous mess of gesticulating limbs pretending to put trousers on or trying to open the fridge. The group seemed to love it, and it's a fun way to get them to think 'outside the box'. Next we played the classic, 'Freeze', where the group took turns in improvising in the middle of the circle, much to my amusement.

I don't think I've ever met such an intelligent group of young people. This isn't meant to sound patronising but I'm sure that I was never that clever when I was 13, when the hardest decision was whether I wanted to have beans to eat for lunch that day. This group of  12-15 year olds are exceptional, debating really tough and serious subjects matters with mature and thought-provoking answers. Anthony asked the group whether they thought War Memorials should be beautiful, or portray the brutality of war. Most of the group asserted that, "Yes, war memorials should be beautiful to remember the sacrifice people had to make, and to respect their lives." but when probed further, some of the kids spoke out to say that "war memorials need to represent the horror of war,  showing: this is what happened and it should never happen again.".

"Holocaust Memorials shouldn’t be beautiful – they should 

be real."

"We are humanity – and we are put on earth to be human and all should be treated equally- everybody is exactly the same – they should be rewarded or punished. Everyone should be equal."

Next, Anthony read out 'The Sheet of Glass" by Edward Bond, a highly imaged poem concerning the theme of mirrors and self-reflections. Broken down stanza by stanza, the group were split into 4 sections and were asked to come up with freezeframes to convey ideas expressed within each verse. For example, one group interpreted the following except from stanza 4 to express the feeling of being trapped in one's own reflection by representing the evolution of man.

"Through the broken gaps you see what’s beyond the mirror 

- you see other people there and what’s happening. 

And in the broken mirror still in place you see yourself. 

But only bits of yourself. 

For every bit you see of what’s beyond the mirror you have to lose a bit of 

 yourself. 

It can’t be otherwise. 

It is the law of opposites."



When put into context with Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass (a brutal anti-semitic attack by Nazi Germany on 9-10 November 1938), the group responded by recognising 'opposite' themes of violence versus victim.

This week was the first 'Devising Week', which means that each aspect discussed in the next few sessions before the 'Rehearsal Weeks', will be incorporated into the final production as a fundamental theme. Taking this into consideration, we should keep in mind that we are essentially creating a memorial. We're going to encounter something brief and temporary but the weight of the message is eternal. We're creating something that isn't set into concrete like a statue or cenotaph, but becomes alive on a stage for 15 minutes and then it is gone except for in our minds. The memory and awareness will live on eternally - neither brutal nor beautiful but powerful and strong.

Edward Bond - The Sheet of Glass

The Sheet of Glass

There is a sheet of glass. 

You see through to what is beyond. 

A window 82

It keeps out cold and rain. 

You paint the back with silver 

You see yourself. 

The same glass but now it does a different thing 

The opposite 

You see yourself but not beyond.

At night you dream. 

Can’t remember who you are. 

You go to the mirror to look for yourself. 

All you see is the dark. 

You can’t see through it 

.....or anything in it. 

You don’t know who you are or what’s beyond the mirror. 

A dream is the opposite of being awake. 

Or is it ? 

Is a dream a sort of mirror ? 

You wake and go to the mirror. 

The dream’s upset you. 

You’d like a mirror which shows you who you are and at the same time lets 

 you see what’s beyond it. 

So you break the mirror. 

You cut your hand. 

It bleeds. 

But it works ! 

Through the broken gaps you see what’s beyond the mirror 

- you see other people there and what’s happening. 

And in the broken mirror still in place you see yourself. 

But only bits of yourself. 

For every bit you see of what’s beyond the mirror you have to lose a bit of 

 yourself. 

It can’t be otherwise. 

It is the law of opposites. 

Now 

The mirror was magic. 

Every morning when you washed your face you asked it 

“Who’s the best person in the world ?” 

The mirror looked you straight in the eye and said “You”. 

But the morning on which it was broken 

....it didn’t 

- and it never did again. 

Instead it said : 

What are you for ? 

What are other people for?

[Young man with a broom in front of the destroyed bedding shop S. Kaliski & Co in Berlin after Kristallnacht, 1938. Copyright: The Wiener Library]