Ghetto (play)

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Ghetto

Front cover of the programme for the

Royal National Theatre's 1989 production.
Written by
Joshua Sobol
Date premiered
1984
Original language
Hebrew
Subject
Vilna Ghetto
Setting
1941, Lithuania.
is a play by Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol about the experiences of the ( :Hebrew) Ghetto
Jews of the Vilna Ghetto during Nazi occupation in World War II. The play focuses on the Jewish
theatre in the ghetto, incorporating live music and including as characters historical figures such as
Jacob Gens, the chief of the Jewish Police and later Head of the ghetto. It is part of a triptych of
plays about the resistance movement, which also includes Adam and Underground.[1] Ghetto
premired at the Haifa Municipal Theatre in Israel and the Freie Volksbhne, Berlin, in 1984,[1]
with folk and jazz singer, Esther Ofarim as Hayyah[2]
It was performed in the Olivier Theatre at the Royal National Theatre, London, in an Englishlanguage version by David Lan, based on a translation by Miriam Schlesinger.[1] This production
opened on 27 April 1989.[1] It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and designed by Bob Crowley.[1]
Alex Jennings played Kittel, Jonathan Cullen played Srulik, and Maria Friedman played Hayyah.[1]
It won the 1989 Evening Standard Award for Best Play.[3] A production directed by Gedalia Besser
opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York on 30 April 1989.[4]

Contents

1 Plot synopsis
2 Characters
3 Music
4 Notes
5 External links

Plot synopsis
Act I
The play begins in 1983 in Tel Aviv, as Srulik, an old one-armed man, recalls the last performance
in the Jewish theatre in Vilna Ghetto, of which he was the artistic director.
The action shifts to Vilna in 1941. Kittel, the SS commander in charge of the ghetto, orders the Jews
to gather clothing of the recently murdered- a massive extermination has just occurred in which
over 50,000 Jews were killed. There are only 16,000 Jews left in the ghetto.
As the Jews sort clothes, Kittel catches Hayyah, a former singer, with a kilo of stolen beans. He
dumps them out and orders the Jews to gather them up within a minute, but they are only able to
retrieve 940 grams. Kittel allows Hayyah to repay him the 60 lost grams by singing songs at his
request, and he is deeply attracted to her and moved by her singing. A younger Srulik also makes his
first appearance, defending Hayyah through his smart-mouthed dummy. Srulik is attracted to
Hayyah as well, but is unable to express his feelings for her without his puppet's voice. Kittel offers
the Jews an empty warehouse to use as a theatre, and to put on a performance to entertain him.
We next meet Jacob Gens, the Chief of the Jewish police. To the Jews left in Vilna, he is their
enemy, constantly making decisions in league with the Germans that cause families to be separated
and people to be killed. But by cooperating and striking up a quasi-friendship with Kittel, Gens
saves the lives of many who would normally be killed by obtaining work permits and setting up
sewing factories to repair Nazi uniforms. Gens approaches Srulik and reveals that he has saved the
lives of many former musicians and actors,and implores Srulik to get them working on a new play
to that they may obtain work permits and be kept alive in case of another purge. A Hasidic fortune
teller reads Gens's palm, but is a phony. Gens pays him anyway and tells him to get a real job.
Weiskopf, a former factory worker, approaches Gens with a plan to create a sewing workshop to
repair Nazi uniforms. Weiskopf is only interested in achieving a higher status among the ghetto
leadership, but Gens sees in his plan the opportunity to save more people that could be employed in
the workshop. Kittel approves of the plan and Weiskopf is made workshop manager.
We are also introduced to Hermann Kruk, who works in the ghetto library and is compiling a
chronicle of Jewish life in the ghetto. Excerpts from his works serve as narrations during the play.
Gens comes to Kruk, demanding information about anti-theatre propaganda that has cropped up
throughout the ghetto. Kruk is offended by the idea of "Theatre in a Graveyard", but Gens insists

that the theater will unite the people of the ghetto.

Kittel orders Weiskopf to provide the actors with costumes, and they improvise a scene depicting a
debate between ghetto leaders over which diabetics should be given the limited doses of insulin
available. They deduce that only God has the ability to give life, and as people, they cannot choose
who to give the limited supplies to. Kittel then bursts in, ordering Gens to eliminate every third
child in the ghetto families, citing a new dictate from the Fhrer forbidding the increase of the
Jewish race. The selection begins, and Kruk narrates a tale of Gens saving the life of a young boy
by giving him to a family with only one child. Gens is distraught after the selection, and Ooma
comforts him as he laments his position and the impossible decisions he has made.
Act II
The act begins as citizens of the ghetto pile up Nazi uniforms. The year is now 1943.
Four young people, Luba, Geivish, Yankel and Elia, carry a coffin into the ghetto. Gens catches
them and arrests Luba for smuggling, ordering the other three to pay him a donation of five
thousand rubles to the school for delinquents in order to free her. While they contemplate their
situation, the Hasidic fortune teller teller offers to read Elia's fortune. When asked for payment, Elia
stabs the Hasid and takes 5,000 rubles from his body. They move to put the body in the coffin, but a
figure wrapped in shrouds emerges from it and scares them off. The man removes his shrouds and is
revealed to be Kittel, who puts on glasses to become a new character, Dr. Ernst Paul, a German
scholar of Judaism.
Paul arrives at the library and orders Kruk to gather manuscripts for preservation at his institute for
Judaism without Jews. They discuss the future of the Jews in Europe and Gens's seeming betrayal
of his race. Paul reveals his sympathies for the Zionist movement, but Kruk defends his belief in his
culture as his homeland.
The three murderers of the Hasid are sentenced and hanged. Kittel sees the punishment as
demonstrative of autonomous and responsible Jewish rule in the ghetto, and promotes Gens to ruler
of the ghetto, while dissolving the Jewish council. Gens invites Kittel and other officials to a ball to
celebrate his promotion.
Weiskopf sets up the ball, proclaiming his dislike for the attendees. Jewish prostitutes are brought in
and an orgy begins between them and the Jewish police officers as the Germans watch, all to the
tune of Hayyah's singing. Srulik's dummy offends Kittel by insulting German military strength, but
Weiskopf calms him down by offering him brandy and convincing him to let him meet with
Hermann Gring in Berlin to negotiate a new factory deal. Kittel notices Gens not enjoying himself
and offers to cheer him up by announcing the annexation of the Oshmene ghetto to Vilna, making
Gens in charge of both. Unfortunately, this entails the extermination of half the population of
Oshmene, which Gens negotiates down to 600. Kittel sends the Jewish police to do the job, and
Kruk's narration remarks on the horror of Jews killing Jews. Gens, alone and drunk after the party,
proclaims his objective to save as many Jews as possible, and his intention to submit himself to
Jewish justice if he survives the war.
Kruk finds Hayyah searching through the library and gives her a stolen Russian army manual. As
she makes her way home, Kittel stops her and expresses his excitement to see her performance in

the upcoming play. As she leaves, he again transforms into Dr. Paul and meets with Kruk. Paul
gives Kruk a new list of monasteries in Vilna to be cataloged, and assures Kruk that as long as he
works for Paul, he will be kept alive. Kruk reminds Paul of the approaching Russian army and
denies his involvement with the armed underground resistance in the ghetto.
May Day arrives in the ghetto, and the citizens celebrate with flowers and banners. Hayyah sings a
resistance song and Kruk speaks of resisting the Germans to the last man, with Warsaw as their
example. Gens bursts onto the scene and orders the anti-Nazi parade to stop, as well as commenting
on the lack of Jewish nationalism in the ghetto. He orders that the official language will be Hebrew
rather than Yiddish, but Srulik's dummy mocks his nationalism. The crowd disperses, and Hayyah
tells Srulik that she plans to leave the ghetto that night through a sewage duct and join the
underground. She asks him to go with her, but he refuses, not willing to leave the families unable to
leave behind.
Wesikopf inspects the theatre with Gens, who wishes to turn it into a workshop to house 500 more
workers. Wesikopf insists that he needs no more than 50 workers and has come up with a detailed
plan to prove it. Gens rips it up, but is unable to convince Weiskopf that the needs of the families
outweigh his more sensible business plans. Kittel arrives, inquiring about Gens's intentions for the
theatre space, and Weiskopf grows desperate, demanding his meeting with Gring. Dessler, the
chief of police, arrives with contraband confiscated from Weiskopf's room, and proceeds to beat
him severely. Dessler drags Weiskopf off, and Kittel reveals to Gens that he reviewed Weiskopf's
plans for 50 more workers earlier that morning, calling it brilliant, but because Gens showed a
stronger will, Kittel allowed him to prevail. Kittel describes to Gens a new doctrine of mutual
responsibility to be enacted in the ghetto, so as to dissuade anyone from escaping and joining the
Underground: if anyone disappears, his family will be killed; if a family disappears, all who shared
their room, etc. Kittel then demands to see what the actors have been working on.
The actors' Final Performance begins. They are dressed in Nazi uniforms, with Srulik wearing
Hitler's uniform. He asks his fellow Nazis how they may detect Jews, and with each response his
Dummy represents the "inhuman" qualities of the Jew. When they stab the Dummy's stomach, coins
spill out instead of blood, proving the "Jewish creature" is not human after all. The Nazi uniforms
poison the Dummy/Jew, and Srulik/Hitler proclaims the beginning of a new age of freedom. They
celebrate by singing 'Ode to Joy'.
Kittel applauds their performance as excellent satire, and demands to see Hayyah, saying he heard
her voice during the performance. But she is not there, having escaped the ghetto earlier. Kittel is
furious, and orders the actors to line up with their backs to him. He calls out for the machine
gunner, but instead Gens comes onstage carrying a heavy cart filled with jam and bread,
deliberately sounding similar to a machine gun to fool the actors into thinking they are going to be
killed. Kittel turns them around, laughing at the success of his joke. He applauds their performance
and offers them the bread and jam. The Dummy sings an uplifting song as the actors enjoy their
meal. Kittel moves away from them, cocks his schmeisser, and guns them down, including Gens, in
one long round. Srulik remains unharmed, and his Dummy frees itself from his hold; it approached
Kittel as an independent person and sings the last verse of the song, before Kittel guns it down too.
The bullets that destroy the Dummy wound Srulik's arm as well, and he becomes the old one-armed
Narrator from the beginning of the play, saying "Our last performance? Our last performance...Wait

a moment..."

Characters
Srulik- the narrator, whose memory of the last days of the ghetto serve as the crux of the story. He
is the artistic director of the ghetto theatre and a ventriloquist, who is never seen without his wisecracking dummy
Kittel- the SS commander in charge of the ghetto. He is a paradox- he is vicious in his treatment of
the residents, but has an artistic and sensitive side and is often seen carrying his saxophone case
along with his schmeisser
Hermann Kruk- the librarian of the ghetto and a socialist. He is working on a chronicle of life in
the ghetto and rarely sets foot outside the library, preferring to ensure that the events taking place
around him are preserved for posterity. The character is based on a real person, also named Herman
Kruk, whose diaries chronicled life in the Vilna ghetto. In the 2000 Seattle Public Theater
production, director Lauren Marshall created a second lead female character by recasting Kruk as
the female Hannah Kruk, thus introducing a degree of sexual tension into (her) relationship with
Gens and Dr. Paul.
Weiskopf- an entrepreneur and former factory worker, who ensures that a new workshop for
mending Nazi uniforms is established in the Ghetto. He is selfish and power-hungry, and only
interested in making a name for himself among the ghetto leadership
Hayyah- a former singer, who is admired by Kittel for her excellent voice and haunting beauty.
Srulik and Kruk also harbor romantic feelings for her, but neither are given the chance to act on
them
Jacob Gens- Chief of the Jewish police and later Head of the ghetto. A deeply conflicted man who
always does his best to save the lives that he can, even if it means working with the Nazis and
letting some die so that others may live. He has a good working relationship with Kittel, who sees
him as his protege. This allows Gens to arrange for lives to spared that might not be otherwise. He
is deeply patriotic and a Zionist.
Dr. Ernst Paul- a professor of Judaica at the Rosenberg Institute for the Study of Judaism without
Jews. He is focused on "preserving the Jewish culture" before the inevitable destruction of their
race, and forces Kruk to help him catalog Vilna's cultural treasures. He is played by the same actor
who plays Kittel.
Numerous minor characters that may be played each by individuals or by an ensemble as small as
15, including
the Hasid- a fortune teller
Ooma and Judith- actresses
3 actors- playing ghetto citizens and numerous stage roles
Elia Geivish
Yitzhok Geivish

Yankel Polikanski- 3 young black marketeers who are hanged for murdering the Hasid
Dessler- a Jewish ghetto policeman and later head of the Jewish police
A small musical ensemble is also required, at least including 2 violins, accordion, trumpet, clarinet,
guitar and percussion. A bass, a trombone and a clarinet may be added to the ensemble.

Music
The play incorporates traditional Jewish songs with jazz numbers and other traditional songs, all
performed live on the stage by the actors and the musical ensemble.
Act II

Act I
Unter dayne vayse shtern (German: Unter
deinen weissen sternen) (In the sky the Stars
All Glisten)- Hayyah
Hot zich mir di shich zerissn (Someone Stole
My Overcoat)- Dummy, Srulik and Hayyah
Haikin's Tango1- Band
Vei zu di teg (A Curse on the Day)- Ensemble
Swanee2- Hayyah
Shtiler, shtiler (Go to Sleep My Little
Flower)- Ensemble
Lullaby- Ooma

Yidishe brigades- Helena, Ensemble

Isrulik- Elia, Gevish
Shtiler, Shtiler (Reprise)- Judith,
Ooma
Friling (German:Frhling)
(Springtime)- Hayyah
Je t'aime, c'est fou- Hayyah
Mir lebn eibik (We'll live forever)Hayyah
Dremlen feigl (Birds Are Dreaming in
the Treetops)- Hayyah
May Day Song- Hayyah
Zog nit keinmol (Never Say the Final
Journey is at Hand)- Hayyah and
Ensemble
The Final Performance- Ensemble,
Band
Ode to Joy3- Ensemble, Band
Pak Zich Ain (Move Along)- Dummy

All songs arranged by Joshua Stephen Kartes, unless otherwise noted

^1 Composed by Joshua Stephen Kartes
^2 George and Ira Gershwin
^3 Ludwig van Beethoven

Notes