The Bad Act Theatre Company came to our school to perform their account of what happened to two Jewish men during their time at Auschwitz. The cast consisted of three men; it was titled 'Ashes to Ashes'.

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Simon Johnson                                      Drama Coursework                                              September 03

                                                                ASHES TO ASHES

        During the Second World War under the reign of Hitler, the Nazis built concentration camps in which they would terrorise and kill millions of Jews and people that were different to the growing Nazi race. They would take the Jews into massive gas chambers and kill them using Zylon B gas; it would usually take 15 – 20 minutes for the gas to kill them. The most famous concentration camp was that of Auschwitz, where it was estimated that 1.5 million Jews were murdered. All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide and the Holocaust. The Nazis established it in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecem, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. At first it was used to kill Polish soldiers and gypsies. By 1942 it became the greatest mass murder in the history of humanity, committed against European Jews.

The Bad Act Theatre Company came to our school to perform their account of what happened to two Jewish men during their time at Auschwitz. The cast consisted of three men; it was titled ‘Ashes to Ashes’.

        As the audience entered the studio you could see and hear three men reciting a Jewish prayer. They were wearing dirty green rags, so right from the beginning it was evident that they were suffering. They kept repeating the prayer over and over again.

“Our father, our king…”

Gradually the prayer got louder until it reached a giant crescendo. It then changed to virtually a whisper and already this prayer being repeated and getting louder and creating a tense, uncertain atmosphere, which reflected the temperament of the whole play.

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      Two of the men then introduced themselves to the audience. One man was quite short and skinny and his name was Hersh. The other man was much bigger and his name was Meuscher. They both told the audience their stories and how they came to be in Auschwitz. They spoke to the audience as if we were close to them unlike conventional theatre. Their proximity to the audience made us feel as if we knew them. They spoke to us in an intimate manner, which made us feel comfortable in their company. They were both Jewish and ...

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