"David"

School Details:

Sir Thomas Boughey High School

Fifteen students took part in a musical based on the events of the Warsaw Ghetto, twelve of whom took performance and vocal roles. The presentation was made to 750 school pupils and at the Hanley Synagogue on January 27th 2005 to members of the Jewish Community, members of Staffordshire County Council, Newcastle, Stoke and Staffordshire Moorlands Council and the respective Mayors, local dignitaries and members of the public at the Holocaust Memorial day event at the Synagogue.

Aims

The project aimed to take the events of the Warsaw Ghetto and through a fictional story tell the events of the Jewish Uprising and it’s impact upon individuals and the legacy that the resistance had. The project aimed to impart the message that the events of the Warsaw Ghetto had an impact upon ordinary human beings that were exactly like people today and why resistance to evil is important and that individuals can make a difference and that through understanding the events that took place in Warsaw realise that people today can also make a difference and better the world around them.

Scene from the production
Scenes from the production

Activities

The piece “David” was researched and then written by Jane Cocker and Samantha Brown. The actual story of “David” is fictional but the events of the uprising are factual. Pupils at the school were then auditioned and selected for the parts. They were given the background and history of the events of the Warsaw Ghetto in order to foster a better understanding of the story that they were telling. Over a period of three months the pupils practiced and refined the operetta making their own contributions and suggestions as to how it could be most effectively produced and then performed it to 750 pupils on Memorial Day. The piece was performed at the Synagogue as part of the Memorial Day Event for Staffordshire. Students form Staffordshire University filmed the students and produced a DVD which was distributed to all parties, pupils parents, members of the Jewish Community and other interested groups.

Outcomes

Through the performance those pupils who took part where better able to understand the Holocaust and it’s relevance today. The audiences were also able to appreciate and understand that the events that happened in Warsaw had an impact upon ordinary people who were no different to themselves, and that with courage they therefore would be to resist when injustice occurs. The final scenes in the piece implore the audience to both never forget the events of the Holocaust but it also challenges them to do their utmost not to let such atrocities happen again.