“From the Files to the Stage” in Digital Theater

From the Files to the Stage – in the frame of a joint project between the University of Bremen and bremer shakespeare company, further digital readings will be held on Wednesdays in February and March. The event is free of charge.

The interest in a digital, scenic reading at the beginning of February was great: More than 200 audience members came together in the digital theater. That is why the bremer shakespeare company is offering four short notice events between February 24 and March 27 for additional readings. The readings will take place Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and will each last around an hour. Subsequently, there will be a Q&A round with the audience.

The Four Readings:

Wednesday, February 24, 2021:

Nationality: Black Africans. - The Life and Survival of Johannes Kohl (“Nationalität: Schwarzer Afrikaner.- Leben und Überleben des Johannes Kohl”)

With Johannes Kohl (1892-1973) as an example, the behavior of German authorities towards black people in the Weimar Republic and in the frame of National Socialism is shown. Kohl most probably came to Germany from Lomé in 2904. His attempt to end the “condition of statelessness” and become a citizen, as well as his fight for custody of his son form the core of the reading.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

No Refuge. Nowhere. - The Evian Conference and the Journey of the St. Louis 1938/1939 (“Keine Zuflucht. Nirgends- Die Konferenz von Évian und die Fahrt der St. Louis 1938/1939“)

Whilst looking for a safe port, ships holding refugees crossed rivers and oceans. For ten days, 32 states discussed the admission of the persecuted – yet they did not do anything and only paid lip service in the end. No state wanted to offer them refuge.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

“I want to write a little bit of truth to you” – Letters from the Bremen Businessmann and Batallion Photographer Hermann Gieschen from the Societ Union to his Wife. (“‘Ich will dir so ein bißchen die Wahrheit schreiben‘ – Briefe des Bremer Kaufmanns und Bataillonsfotografen Hermann Gieschen aus der Sowjetunion an seine Frau.“)

„Do you know I want to write a little bit of truth of what it is like to you” – these are the words that the Bremen businessperson and battalion photographer Hermann Gieschen (1902-1951) wrote in Lithuania in July 1941 to his wife. The letters from the family father document day-to-day life and the criminal activities of the Bremen Police Battalion 105 in the Soviet Union (from July 1942 in the Netherlands).

Wednesday, March 17, 2021:

“I Have Therefore Stopped Proceedings.” – The Investigation into the Camp Commander Walhorn 1961/1962

At the beginning of July 1961, A.A.C. Roodvoets from Leeuwarden asks the German Federal Minister of Justice, Fritz Schäffer (CSU), if the camp commander Walhorn has been punished for the murder of his brother Theo Roodvoets and Tjark Kremers in the work education camp in Bremen Farge. Exactly one year later in July 1962, the state prosecutor Dr. Höffler, who worked at the Rzeszów Special Court in Poland in 1939/40, answers that the proceedings have been stopped, as Walhorn was not responsible for the deaths of both camp prisoners.

About the Theater Project

From the Files to the Stage is a historical theater project at the University of Bremen which is led by Dr. Eva Schöck-Quinteros and the bremer shakespeare company (bsc). The concept: History students research historical sources, the bremer shakespeare company works on the texts for the scenic reading, and the actors and actresses give the texts a voice on stage.