FOUR STARS

‘Why?” one of the characters asks despairingly. “Why?”

Why indeed. Nearly 70 years on, the motives behind the brutal, systematic and senseless murder of millions of Jews and other minority groups are still incomprehensible to most people. New theatre company Voices, founded last year by Holocaust specialist Cate Hibbert, is dedicated to raising awareness of the full horror of one of the most shameful periods of 20th century history. I Never Saw Another Butterfly and Meaning, on at the North Wall last week, pull no punches; these are hard-hitting one-act plays that open audience’s eyes to the cruelty, indignities and sheer terror suffered by those persecuted in Nazi Germany. I Never Saw Another Butterfly is based on the true story of Holocaust victim Hana Brady, and sees a group of children trying to keep their spirits up by playing games before being transported by the notorious freight trains to concentration camps. This is a shocking tale, in which the children recall being shunned by former friends and teachers, and try clinging desperately to their faith, but cannot escape the fate that awaits them. Yet it is also a tale of friendships and the power of human unity, that enables a glimmer of hope to shine through in the most hopeless of situations.

In Meaning, based on the story of Auschwitz survivor Viktor E. Frankl, audiences are taken inside a concentration camp, and shown the cramped conditions of the inmates and their barbaric treatment by the prison guards. Yet, once again, there is that human bond that gives the victims some emotional and moral support, and a belief that they can survive.

Performed by a cast of experienced and emerging actors, these plays are disturbing and thought-provoking, and leave you wondering at the inhumanity of some people while marvelling at the courage of others.

 

The Theatre, Chipping Norton
Tuesday, July 9
Tickets: 01608 642350.