In conversation: Ben Brown

“It was extraordinary that Himmler seemed to want to defend himself to a Jew, as if he was going to make Masur understand or sympathise”

The year is 1945 and playrwight Ben Brown takes us to the estate near Berlin, where Heinrich Himmler, architect of the Holocaust, meets in secret with a Swedish Jew and member of the World Jewish Congress, Norbert Masur. The meeting is at the instigation of the estate’s owmer, Himmler’s Finnish physiotherapist Dr Felix Kersten, who has persuaded Hitler’s deputy to come without the Führer’s knowledge, to bargain for his life as it becomes clear that Germany is losing the war. The stakes are high, the freeing of thousands of Jews from camps is the bargaining chip, and the 'night' whose end is in sight in Brown’s tense, eye-opening drama is World War II and the Holocaust. Listen as Judi Herman speaks to Brown about his vital source material – both Kersten’s memoirs and Masur’s account written immediately on his return to Stockholm – and his fascination with vividly reimagining vital moments in 20th-century history.

The End of the Night runs until Saturday 28 May. 7.30pm, 3pm (Thu & Sat only). £18.50-£32.50, £16.50-£23.50 concs. Park Theatre, N4 3JP. parktheatre.co.uk. An online screening of the production will be presented by award-winning Original Theatre, keep an eye on our listings pages for dates, which will be announced soon.

Read our review of The End of the Night on the JR blog.

In conversation: Josh Azouz

“I’m Sephardi-Jewish and it was interesting to find out about a WWII story seen through the eyes of a Jewish couple and a Muslim couple”

© Marc Brenner

Josh Azouz is a playwright whose work deservedly draws in audiences. His last play, The Mikvah Project, set in the Jewish ritual bath of the title, intrigued audiences last year (pre-pandemic). Now his Sephardi background and his interest in Jewish/Muslim relations are among the inspirations that sent him on a revealing journey of discovery for his latest play, Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied Tunisia. Azouz speaks to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about this new play and more, from his years singing in the choir at Lauderdale Road Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, to how time spent training at Philippe Gaulier Clown School in Paris proved useful for this dark tragicomedy.

Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied Tunisia runs until Saturday 18 September. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Sat & Wed only). £10-£43.50. Almeida Theatre, N1 1TA. 020 7359 4404. almeida.co.uk

Read our review of the show on the JR blog.

In conversation: Noemie Lopian

"I want to teach people about humanity, my passion is to educate, to prevent extremism"

Noemie Lopian is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Dr Ernst Israel Bornstein and Renee Bornstein. Noemie was brought up first in Germany and then from the age of 13 in Manchester, England. The mother of four daughters, she qualified as a GP and for the last few years has dedicated her time to educating and commemorating the Holocaust, continuing the legacy of her parents. She has translated her late father Ernst’s memoirs into a book called The Long Night, the story of his sufferings as a teenager in a series of concentration camps, which has featured on TV, in print and as an animation. Her mother shared with her only more recently the story of her terrifying childhood experiences trying to evade the Nazis occupying her native France.

Now Noemie is also able to tell Renee's story in an extraordinarily immediate way, thanks to broadcaster and lawyer Robert Rinder, whose new two-part documentary for the BBC helps Jewish families discover the full truth about what happened to their relatives during the Holocaust. Part one of My Family, the Holocaust and Me, which features both Noemie and her mother Renee, airs tonight, the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht. Noemie tells JR’s Judi Herman more about what drives her in her inspirational work – and what happened when she and her mother went to France.

My Family, the Holocaust and Me with Robert Rinder airs Monday 9 & Monday 16 November. 9pm. FREE. BBC One & ONLINE. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pbwk

Find out more about Noemie Lopian’s work at holocaustmatters.org

In conversation: Maisie & Thamar Barnett

“We decided to actually go and try and find every footstep of Mary’s”

Maisie outside Mary’s home on Boterdiepstraat

When Maisie Barnett signed up for the Yad Vashem Bar/Bat Mitzvah Twinning Programme, she and her mother Thamar went more than the extra mile to find out all they could about Maisie’s ‘twin’ Mary, a Dutch youngster murdered by the Nazis long before she could celebrate her bat mitzvah. They found Mary’s best friend Renate, who guided them around Amsterdam to where she and Mary had lived and played all those years ago. They made a moving short film of their journey and Renate was present as guest of honour as Maisie read from the Torah at her bat mitzvah at Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue in July 2019. Here Maisie and Thamar talk to JR’s arts editor Judi Herman about their extraordinarily meaningful and memorable experiences and expand upon making their beautiful film.

Watch Maisie and Thamar’s film on Vimeo and read more about Maisie’s experience with the Twinning Programme in the July 2020 issue of JR.