Brundibar Festival, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle
THURSDAY, 23rd JANUARY 2025, 20:00
(preceded by mobile Exhibition Music, Migration and Mobility - The Story of Émigré Musicians from Nazi Europe in Britain, 19.00)
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The Brundibar Festival in Newcastle presents a dramatised version of the bilingual WW2 internment revue, based on texts from the composer's diary Music behind Barbed Wire.
Tenor: Norbert Meyn
Baritone: Simon Wallfisch
Director: Robert Hersey
Actor: Philip Harrison
Actor: Chris Connel
Violin: Kyra Humphreys
Violin: Alexandra Raikhlina
Viola: Anna Barsegjana
Cello: Gabriel Waite
Clarinet: Dov Goldberg
Flute: Charlotte Ashton
Piano: Yoshie Kawamura
In May 1940, Nazi-Germany launched a surprise attack on Belgium and the Netherlands. Faced with the threat of an invasion and in fear of sabotage, the British Government embarked on a policy of mass internment of German and Austrian Nationals in the United Kingdom. The large majority of the prisoners were Jewish and other refugees who had escaped persecution by the Nazi Regime and were ready to fight against the Nazis together with the British.They had to stay in the camps for many months until the authorities had dealt with each case individually. Most of the internees were brought to the Isle of Man, which had already been used for internment during World War One. The eminent composer Hans Gál (1890-1987) became a leading member of the arts committee at Central Camp in the capital Douglas. After several successful concerts of classical music, the arts committee decided to put on a comic revue to provide much needed light entertainment. It was the brainchild of the Austrian film director Georg Höllering (1897-1980), who had worked with Berthold Brecht on the film ‘Kuhle Wampe’ in 1932. He asked Gál to compose the music for it and called it ‘What a Life!’. The songs are parodies of actual life in the camp, making fun of the seagulls, the barbed wire, the gender separation, the fitness routine, cleaning up, sharing double beds and observing the blackout. The revue also includes the powerful and moving melodrama 'Ballade vom Armen Jakob' with words by Norbert Elias.
Unfortunately, the text of the spoken dialogue scenes that were performed between the musical numbers does not survive. What we do have are the songs and instrumental numbers from Gál’s manuscripts, and his wonderful diary ‘Music behind Barbed Wire’, which recounts the whole episode of internment and the creation of the revue in great detail. Building on a script developed from diary excerpts by Norbert Meyn, this performance presents a new dramatised version by director Robert Hersey.
Click here for further information about the Brundibar Festival
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