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PODCAST

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage

Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner

Blending performing arts and history, LUOTD delves into what it means to represent the Holocaust onstage. Co-hosting from London and New York, theatre historian Samantha Mitschke and actor Alexandra Gellner discuss all things Holocaust-theatre. Bringing their perspectives as Holocaust educators, the pair look at how theatre can help with teaching and learning about the Holocaust as they offer fresh and thought-provoking insights.

history performing arts

All Episodes

47:20

The "Lights Up" 2025 Lookback

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2026/01/05

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 a global audience; the challenges, including politics and time zones; their top three Holocaust plays so far; podcast plans for 2026; and how even 103 editing notes for a single episode hasn’t ruined their friendship. Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra GellnerExecutive Producer: Samantha

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55:15

"Kindertransport" by Diane Samuels

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/12/16

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 what was to come in Nazi-occupied Europe - but meant that many never saw their parents again. Kindertransport draws upon the experiences of kinder and rescuers to look at what it means to survive when everything you once knew has been ripped away.When nine-year-old Eva arrives in Manchester from

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68:38

Representing Resistance: "Rescued From The Holocaust"...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/11/07

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 highlights, challenges and contemporary relevance of working with the plays, the pair explore the historical contexts behind each one. American diplomat Varian Fry led successful efforts in southern France to rescue around 2,000 people, both Jews and non-Jews; while Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jewish

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35:23

S2 E2, Part 2: Shonaleigh Cumbers and "The Fool of...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/10/21

“In the last clearing of the Warsaw Ghetto three children find themselves on a transportation to Auschwitz and encounter the Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto. He offers them a moment of magic in which to escape – if they have the courage to take it…Not all stories have a happy ending, but they should all begin with outrageous hope.” In the second part of this special two-part episode, Sam and Alex continue their exploration of a vibrant part of Jewish culture that was nearly lost during the Holocaust: the

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76:55

S2 E2, Part 1: Shonaleigh and "The Fool of the Warsaw...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/09/29

In the first part of this special two-part episode, Sam and Alex look at a vibrant part of Jewish culture that was nearly lost during the Holocaust: the drut’syla storytelling tradition.Special guest Shonaleigh Cumbers, believed to be the last living drut’syla, talks to the girls about the tradition and her life and experiences as a storyteller. She also offers some insights into her incredible story The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, a beautiful and bittersweet story about three children who, in the

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67:52

"Cabaret"

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/09/15

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome…the girls are back! In the season premiere, Sam and Alex look at the iconic musical Cabaret and ask: Is it a ‘Holocaust play’?The conversation includes their encounters with it, from childhood memories up to recent performances in London and New York; key differences between the film and the stage version(s); the depictions of characters from Clifford and Sally to Herr Schultz and Frau Schneider, and what they represent; and what Cabaret itself represents in the current

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86:51

"Playing for Time" by Arthur Miller

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/07/07

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

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67:36

"Performing Captivity, Performing Escape: Cabarets...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

Content warning: this episode contains references to disordered eating.In this week’s episode, Alex and Dr Sam talk to Professor Lisa Peschel - whose interviews with Czech survivors of Terezin/Theresienstadt led to the discovery of numerous scripts, previously thought lost, of the performances staged inside the ghetto. This led to the publication in German, Czech and English of Performing Captivity, Performing Escape, a collection of 12 of these scripts.The trio discuss elements including the

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85:34

"Fear and Misery of the Third Reich" by Bertolt...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

In this week’s episode, Dr Sam and guest co-host John Summers-Campbell explore the most naturalistic of Brecht’s works: a series of 24 episodic scenes that illustrate what life was like for ordinary Germans under the Nazis in the build-up to the Second World War.Sam and John discuss aspects such as the (under)representation of different groups; which of the scenes they think are the most powerful, and why; John’s experiences of directing the play, including a tap-dancing schoolgirl, a maid in drag

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62:00

Contested Histories: "Our Class" and the Jedwabne...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

Content warning: Discussions of sexual violence and graphic descriptions of antisemitic violence and killings. In this episode - the first in the Contested Histories series - Sam and Alex explore Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, translated/adapted by Ryan Craig. Based on the controversial history of the Jedwabne pogrom, in which the Jews of the town were murdered in July 1941 by their Polish Catholic neighbours, the play looks at the stories of victims, perpetrators and survivors. The real life

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71:20

"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne,...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

Since its publication in 2006, John Boyne’s novel has been the subject of criticism in the world of Holocaust education. Set at Auschwitz and telling the fictional story of a friendship between the naive son of a Nazi officer and a Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, the book continues to split opinion - with some saying it shouldn’t be utilised at all, and others pointing out its value as a tool for teaching critical thinking. In this episode, Sam and Alex set out to discuss Angus Jackson’s 2015

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87:42

"All Our Children" by Stephen Unwin (17th March 2025)

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to violence and a mention of SA against children.“January 1941. A terrible crime is taking place in a clinic for disabled children. The perpetrators argue that it will help struggling parents and lift the financial burden on the mighty German state. One brave voice is raised in objection. But will the doctor listen?”In this episode, Sam and Alex welcome their very first guest to the show. Director, writer and teacher Stephen Unwin talks about his

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60:41

Impossible Choices: "The White Factory" by Dmitry...

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

Content warning: References to suicide and SA against women and children.In this episode - the first in the Impossible Choices series - Sam and Alex explore Dmitry Glukhovsky’s The White Factory. Beginning in 1960s New York, the play follows survivor Yosef Kaufmann as he learns a notorious SS officer has finally been apprehended. Forced to confront his own experiences in the Łódź Ghetto, Yosef once again finds himself caught between seemingly impossible choices.Sam and Alex discuss themes such as

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85:02

All the Anne Franks (10th February 2025)

Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage ·

2025/06/23

In their very first episode, Sam and Alex explore stage adaptations of Anne Frank’s diary - including one man’s obsession with telling Anne’s story; how most people don’t realise how a single play has impacted their perception of the Diary; ideas on how working with a stage adaptation can help students engage in different ways; and how Sam bumped into Otto Frank in Amsterdam…Hosts: Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra GellnerExecutive Producer: Samantha MitschkeProducer / Editor: Alexandra

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