MAGDA TOFFLER. Versuch über das Schweigen
Performance Theatre & Performance
After Magda Toffler died at the age of 87, Boris Nikitin discovered what she had experienced during the Second World War: she had to spend months hiding in a barn while most of her family were killed in a death camp. Sitting on an empty stage, he reads this story out loud, page by page. He tells of his efforts to understand why his grandmother had remained silent and how it is impossible to answer this question after her death.
‘MAGDA TOFFLER’ is a piece of genealogical research which is as much about grappling with one’s own identity as with the fatal consequences of failing to talk about the catastrophes of the 20th century.
reviews
cast
Direction, Text, Performance: Boris Nikitin, Production: Annett Hardegen, Outside Eyes: Matthias Meppelink, Annett Hardegen, Fabian Schmidtlein
credits
An It’s The Real Thing production in co-production with Steirischer Herbst 2022, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Kaserne Basel, Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Théâtre Vidy Lausanne, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Frascati Amsterdam, Theater Chur and OMANUT – Forum for Jewish Art and Culture. With support from Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia, the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation and the expert panel on dance and theatre for the Cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft as part of the projects made possible by three-year funding.
The first version of this work was commissioned by OMANUT – Forum for Jewish Arts and Culture.