Shows
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage"Playing for Time" by Arthur MillerIn this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Fania Fénelon’s memoir of her time in the women’s orchestra of Auschwitz. The pair talk about the history of the orchestras at Auschwitz, including the relative ‘privilege’ of the musicians; the life and experiences of Fénelon, a French singer and pianist; the moral challenges facing the orchestra members; the representation of women’s experiences; and the complex, overarching theme of perpetrators as ‘humans’ rather than ‘monsters.’ To skip updates and recommendations and go straight into the episode, listen from 15...2025-07-071h 26
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage"Performing Captivity, Performing Escape: Cabarets and Plays from the Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto," edited by Lisa Peschel (16th June 2025)Content warning: this episode contains references to disordered eating.In this week’s episode, Alex and Dr Sam talk to Professor Lisa Peschel - whose interviews with Czech survivors of Terezin/Theresienstadt led to the discovery of numerous scripts, previously thought lost, of the performances staged inside the ghetto. This led to the publication in German, Czech and English of Performing Captivity, Performing Escape, a collection of 12 of these scripts.The trio discuss elements including the historical background of Terezin/Theresienstadt; the cultural life in the ghetto; Lisa’s interviews; her experiences of working with the...2025-06-231h 07
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage"Fear and Misery of the Third Reich" by Bertolt Brecht (2nd June 2025)In this week’s episode, Dr Sam and guest co-host John Summers-Campbell explore the most naturalistic of Brecht’s works: a series of 24 episodic scenes that illustrate what life was like for ordinary Germans under the Nazis in the build-up to the Second World War.Sam and John discuss aspects such as the (under)representation of different groups; which of the scenes they think are the most powerful, and why; John’s experiences of directing the play, including a tap-dancing schoolgirl, a maid in drag and a fainting Nazi; how Fear and Misery… inspired a 1980s sci-fi series...2025-06-231h 25
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust OnstageContested Histories: "Our Class" and the Jedwabne Pogrom (21st April 2025)Content warning: Discussions of sexual violence and graphic descriptions of antisemitic violence and killings. In this episode - the first in the Contested Histories series - Sam and Alex explore Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, translated/adapted by Ryan Craig. Based on the controversial history of the Jedwabne pogrom, in which the Jews of the town were murdered in July 1941 by their Polish Catholic neighbours, the play looks at the stories of victims, perpetrators and survivors. The real life events on which the play is based challenged the image of Poles as solely victims in World W...2025-06-231h 02
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne, adapted by Angus Jackson (7th April 2025)Since its publication in 2006, John Boyne’s novel has been the subject of criticism in the world of Holocaust education. Set at Auschwitz and telling the fictional story of a friendship between the naive son of a Nazi officer and a Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, the book continues to split opinion - with some saying it shouldn’t be utilised at all, and others pointing out its value as a tool for teaching critical thinking. In this episode, Sam and Alex set out to discuss Angus Jackson’s 2015 adaptation and end up covering the play, the bo...2025-06-231h 11
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage"All Our Children" by Stephen Unwin (17th March 2025)CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to violence and a mention of SA against children.“January 1941. A terrible crime is taking place in a clinic for disabled children. The perpetrators argue that it will help struggling parents and lift the financial burden on the mighty German state. One brave voice is raised in objection. But will the doctor listen?”In this episode, Sam and Alex welcome their very first guest to the show. Director, writer and teacher Stephen Unwin talks about his play All Our Children; his experiences as the father of a disabled son; his...2025-06-231h 27
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust OnstageImpossible Choices: "The White Factory" by Dmitry Glukhovsky (24th February 2025)Content warning: References to suicide and SA against women and children.In this episode - the first in the Impossible Choices series - Sam and Alex explore Dmitry Glukhovsky’s The White Factory. Beginning in 1960s New York, the play follows survivor Yosef Kaufmann as he learns a notorious SS officer has finally been apprehended. Forced to confront his own experiences in the Łódź Ghetto, Yosef once again finds himself caught between seemingly impossible choices.Sam and Alex discuss themes such as the history of the Ghetto, including the controversial figure of Chaim Rumko...2025-06-231h 00
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust OnstageAll the Anne Franks (10th February 2025)In their very first episode, Sam and Alex explore stage adaptations of Anne Frank’s diary - including one man’s obsession with telling Anne’s story; how most people don’t realise how a single play has impacted their perception of the Diary; ideas on how working with a stage adaptation can help students engage in different ways; and how Sam bumped into Otto Frank in Amsterdam…Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra GellnerExecutive Producer: Samantha MitschkeProducer / Editor: Alexandra GellnerMusic: “Image” by Infraction MusicContact: https://ho...2025-06-231h 25