Adapted/translated by theatre collective Found in Translation and directed by Angelika Michitsch
The Letter is an English-language stage adaption of a novella by the Austrian playwright and novelist Franz Werfel. One of the leading literary figures in the German-speaking world by the late 1920s, he was persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis, fled Austria after the Anschluss in 1938 and died in Californian exile in 1945.
Playing out in the drawing rooms and government offices of establishment Vienna in 1936, this piece examines the ethical decline and spiritual death of its seductive, weak-willed, accommodating protagonist over the course of single day. At the same time, it highlights two determined women in the protagonist’s life, especially one who is no longer portrayed as a passive victim.
The play raises questions around individual action and collective response, social conformity and personal responsibility.
The event takes place in collaboration with the theatre collective Found in Translation. It will be followed by a Q & A with the team behind this adaptation.
Cast
Narrator : Richard Pedersen
Judge : Dave Wainwright
Leonidas Berger : Elisha Sessions
Amelie Berger, née Paradini : Emily Carmichael
Vera Wormser : Nicole Bröhl
Minister Spittelberger : Paul Graham
Cabinet Secretary Skutecky : Ben Anadolu
Professor Schummerer : Sunil Bannur
Found in Translation: A group of four – Germans who have made Britain their home, and British with a love of German language and literature (Alison de Verteuil, Anne Puetz, Ines Schlenker, Niccola Shearman). The flow of cultural give-and-take between their countries of origin is a vital tool in continuing to connect across borders, as well as real or imagined differences. With a background in history and literature, the group aspires to bring German-language writing to wider British audiences, and to expand the small, important canons of plays from Austria and Germany on British stages through translations and adaptations.
Venue:
Tower Theatre
16 Northwold Road
London N16 7HR
