“I have no words. I have no face. I have no memory.”

So begins Shoah, a new play presented by English award-winning company Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.

Films and plays about the Holocaust are always a difficult proposition, but this production was inspired by artwork, such as paintings and charcoal sketches, produced by Holocaust survivors themselves.

Written by Helen Newall and Russ Tunney (who is also the director), the touring production is only one hour long, but succinctly tells the story of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved around 100,000 Jews in Budapest — or one-seventh of Hungarian Jews — during 1944.

Important story

For a long time, Helen and Russ had wanted to write a play about the Holocaust and even started exploring the life of Nazi-hunter Simon Weisenthal. It was during this research that they found out about Wallenberg, of whose existence they had previously been unaware.

“It struck me as unbelievable that people don’t know about him,” Tunney explained, “and it became obvious that this was the story we needed to tell.”

The three actors — Michael Magnet (Wallenberg), David Hey (Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the ‘Final Solution’) and Elena Joy Miller (Pal Szalai, a key member of the Hungarian Arrow Cross who passed vital information to Wallenberg) — use music and movement to depict the tragedy of the Holocaust which cannot always be explained using language.

It struck me as unbelievable that people don’t know about him Director Russ Tunney on Raoul Wallenberg

“There aren’t words to describe so many things that we are dealing with and the idea of expressing ourselves physically makes a lot of sense,” Tunney said.

“How will the birds ever sing again?” asks Szalai, speaking of the atrocities. “This is the beginning of the end.”

Partnership

Szalai’s role in the play, explained Tunney, is to emphasise that Wallenberg was not completely on his own — there were others in the capital with a conscience.
But for Wallenberg, a conscience was not enough to save him from an uncertain future.

In January 1945 the Russians took over Budapest and captured him. Wallenberg was never seen again, although rumours still circulate about his disappearance.
Shoah’s writers aim to spread his story to a wider audience, which includes schools as well as art venues, in a way that does not pigeonhole it into a history lesson or preach to the audience.

"This is a story of hope, of a man standing up and saying no,” added Tunney, “and he makes such an impact through peaceful means.”

The play is touring on the following dates:

18 October - The Broadway, Barking
23 October – Brewery Arts, Kendal
15 – 19 November – The Studio, Nuffield Theatre, Southampton
24 & 26 November – Salisbury Playhouse
1 December – Hexagon Theatre, Middlesbrough

For more information, contact the Nuffield Theatre on 00 44 23 8067 1771, visit www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk or email info@nuffieldtheatre.co.uk