Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage7 Jul 2025

"Playing for Time" by Arthur Miller

In 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 15.15.

Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Executive Producer: Samantha Mitschke

Producer / Editor: Alexandra Gellner

Music: “Image” by Infraction Music

Contact: https://holocaustonstage.com/contact/

Episode Sources

Tim Auld, “How Arthur Miller struck a discord with the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz” in The Guardian, 6 March 2015.

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, On Auschwitz (25): Orchestras at Auschwitz.

BBC Media Centre, The Last Musician of Auschwitz.

Fania Fénelon (1977) The Musicians of Auschwitz. Michael Joseph Ltd.

Kathryn Hughes, “The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz by Anne Sebba review – playing for their lives” in The Guardian, 21 March 2025.

Arthur Miller (1990) Playing for Time. Nick Hern Books.

Music and the Holocaust / ORT.org: Fania Fénelon / Anita Lasker-Wallfish / Alma Rosé

Time Note, Maria Mandel.

To request a full list of resources, please use the contact form.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(19)

"Here There Are Blueberries" by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich

In this week’s episode, coinciding with Yom HaShoah, Sam and Alex look at Here There Are Blueberries by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich.Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of an album donated...

13 Apr 54min

Women's History: "Blonde Poison" by Gail Louw

CONTENT WARNING: References to suicide; sexual referencesIn this week’s episode, originally recorded for Women’s History Month, Sam and Alex look at Gail Louw’s 2013 one-woman play Blonde Poison. Stel...

1 Apr 51min

"Bent" by Martin Sherman

CONTENT WARNING: Explicit content and references to suicideIn this week’s episode, coinciding with the end of Queer History Month in the UK, Sam and Alex explore Martin Sherman’s groundbreaking play B...

4 Mar 51min

"Album Karla Höckera / The Album of Karl Höcker" with Paul Bargetto

CONTENT WARNING: References to suicideIn this week’s episode, Sam and Alex talk to director and dramaturg Paul Bargetto about devised part process, part docu-drama Album Karla Höckera / The Album of K...

18 Feb 1h 34min

"Leopoldstadt" by Tom Stoppard

In this week’s season premiere, timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day and its 2026 theme of “Bridging Generations,” Sam and Alex look at Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt.At the beginning of the twe...

26 Jan 45min

The "Lights Up" 2025 Lookback

In this episode - the last one of Season 2 - Sam and Alex look back on 2025 and the first two seasons of LUOTD. They recap how the podcast came about; talk about the highlights, from special guests to...

5 Jan 47min

"Kindertransport" by Diane Samuels

In this episode, Sam and Alex explore Kindertransport by Diane Samuels. In 1938-39, nearly 10,000 mostly Jewish children were brought to the UK as part of a humanitarian mission that rescued them from...

16 Des 202555min

Representing Resistance: "Rescued From The Holocaust" & "Dr. Yanush Korczak"

In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at two short plays for middle schoolers: Rescued From The Holocaust by Sean Price and Dr. Yanush Korczak by Alina Kentof.As well as a discussion about the hig...

7 Nov 20251h 8min