A play written in the early 1990s based on the life events of a Jewish woman living in Guernsey and deported to Auschwitz during WWII by the German occupying forces is finally going to be performed in the island.
This coming Monday, 28 April, at St James, Theresa will be performed as a rehearsed reading as part of a wider tour of the Channel Islands organised by Jewish Renaissance, a UK based Jewish arts and culture, quarterly magazine, founded in 2001.
Express has spoken to both the playwright and director Julia Pascal and JR’s Executive Director Dr Aviva Dautch, who both commented how pleased they are that three decades after being written, the play will see it’s debut in the island where the events took place.
Ms Pascal’s play, Theresa is based on the story of Therese Steiner who was deported from Guernsey, at Nazi command during the Occupation, along with Marianne Grunfeld and Auguste Spitz.
The three women were initially sent to St Malo, in occupied France, where they were allowed to take up jobs. Within three months, however, they had been sent to Auschwitz, in Poland, where all three died. They were sent to the gas chamber as soon as their train arrived at the camp.
Speaking to Express, Executive Director of Jewish Renaissance, Dr Aviva Dautch said: “Over the next week we are delighted to be running what is believed to be the first ever Jewish Heritage Tour of The Channel Islands on the 80th anniversary of Liberation. We are grateful for the help of Helen Glencross, Head of Heritage Services in Guernsey, and Chris Addy from Jersey Heritage, in helping make this happen. We look forward to meeting members of the local communities and exploring the beautiful coastlines, as well as reckoning with the legacy of the history of occupation, resistance and liberation.”
“When we heard about the laying of the Stolpersteine memorial stones in 2024, including one for Theresa Steiner, we felt the tour and Liberation 80 celebrations, would be a good time to finally bring Julia’s play to Guernsey. Some members of our tour group are descended from families who came to Britian as refugees from Nazi Europe or were Allied soldiers. Others are Holocaust educators. Therefore, we thought it would be interesting to discuss the play with Islanders in the context of Britain’s role in WWII and unravel some of the complexities together, so are also holding a post-show conversation.”
Theresa has previously toured the UK, France, and Germany, and it even aired on BBC Radio under the title The Road to Paradise. It was however seen as containing ‘distasteful language’ when conversations of it being performed in Guernsey occurred in the 1990s.
A spokesperson for the States of Guernsey has said there is no record of it ever being ‘banned’ – but a parish may have said ‘no’ to a local performance.
“The play is not banned in Guernsey. It is being shown in St James this month (April). Until the 1990s, parishes had delegated authority to make decisions around the arts, and it is possible it was banned by parishes in that time, however the States of Guernsey does not hold records of this.”
The play is coming to Guernsey as part of a wider tour package offered by Jewish Renaissance, called ‘Channel Islands: A New View’, which is set to include three nights in Guernsey , four nights in Jersey and a day-trip to Alderney.
People from all over the globe are expected to visit the island as part of the tour and to listen to the play. This particular Channel Islands tour has been arranged in association with Travel Counsellors and is for Jewish Renaissance subscribers only.
Darren Vogel, a representative of the local Guernsey Jewish community commented: “It is probably right, and possibly timely, that Julia Pascal’s challenging and controversial play, Theresa finally comes home to the island. It is also critical that the playwright herself will be present to facilitate a conversation as part of this unique Guernsey event.”
“When an enemy force invaded a demilitarised island like Guernsey, leaders and guardians of the population would have been in an impossibly difficult position. The impact of those unprovoked acts of Nazi aggression over 80 years ago are still felt strongly today in the Bailiwick. There are numerous difficult and controversial aspects of Guernsey occupation history. Understanding these issues are part of facing up to and overcoming them. Open and transparent conversations are essential to avoid the risk of history ever being repeated. However, those conversations should not disrupt or spoil the joy of celebrating our 80th anniversary of Liberation.”
Jewish Renaissance magazine is independent and financed by subscriptions, advertising and grant funding. It is published by Renaissance Publishing, a registered charity, whose Executive Director is the poet, academic, and arts curator Dr Aviva Dautch.
Theresa
You can buy tickets for Monday’s performance of Theresa HERE.
It is being staged at St James. Doors open at 19:00, show starts at 20:00
For subsidised tickets for Educators, Students, and Teachers, please contact: darren.vogel@gmail.com
The play is written and directed by Julia Pascal.
The Assistant Director is Conrad Cohen.
The cast include Fiz Marcus, Michal Horowitz and Milo Maris.
The composer and sound designer is Flick Isaac Chilton.