a musical about the power of humanity
Masada is an ancient fortress on the top of an isolated crag on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, approximately 3 km west of the southern edge of the Dead Sea. The fortress was built by Herod the Great in the 1st century B.C. and became the last place of resistance of Jewish rebels against the rule of the Romans during the first Jewish war. The people inside the fortress decided that it was better to die at the hands of their own people than to succumb to their oppressors, and they basically committed mass suicide. This event from the history of his nation long tempted the Israeli composer Shuki Levy. He has now fulfilled his dream, writing the music for a story produced by the writer Glenn Berenbeim. Along with David Goldsmith, who wrote the song lyrics, they have created a rather special musical show that utilizes the principle of theatre within the theatre.
The musical actually functions on two levels. Daniel Warshowsky persuades his family and friends to perform the historical story of the conquest of Masada as a theatre piece, a musical. It seems inappropriate to many of them that there should be dancing and singing on such a topic but, in the end, Daniel wins them over. What is even more astounding is that it all happens during World War II in the Warsaw ghetto. It is 1942, and the evil of Nazism is at its peak and many family members and friends are being taken away by the infamous trains to concentration camps. Daniel believes that there is a parallel between the historic story and their current situation that will help Warsaw’s inhabitants defend themselves against the Nazis. In his opinion, theatre offers a way of escaping the terrible reality of the ghetto where all of them live.
The touching story set against the backdrop of the holocaust, a tragedy which must never be forgotten, was first performed in Plymouth in 2007 as a test run, and its premiere subsequently took place on 19th November 2008 at the West End’s New London Theatre. Despite the initial excited reviews, the musical was withdrawn after less than two months as critics who hadn´t even seen the show started to accuse it of trivialising this serious topic. The essential quality of this work is its appellative, unusually deeply moving message. We are showing this musical, with its beautiful emotional music and involving human story, in a Czech premiere directed by Petr Gazdík.
