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Breathing life into the books they banned and burned
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JW3 and Index on Censorship are pleased to announce “Uncensored: A Celebration of Banned Writing”. This series of events will explore censored work across the ages, launching with a performance of works by authors whose books were banned and burned during the Nazi regime.
In Banned and Burned on March 21 actors will read excerpts from a selection of canonical texts that range of from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to Bambi, books published in the early 20th century which continue to define our world today. The evening, at JW3, will be interspersed with live music deemed degenerate by the Third Reich.
This event is presented in association with Watford Palace Theatre, which is currently producing Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, directed by Richard Beecham, running from 1-24 March.
The books that will feature in Banned and Burned include:
Bambi – Felix Salten
Concert – Else Lasker-Schüler
Grand Hotel – Vicki Baum
Helen Keller’s Journal
Hoppla, We’re Alive! – Ernst Toller
Men and Women: The World Journey of a Sexologist – Magnus Hirschfeld
The 42nd Parallel – John Dos Passos
The Condition of the Working Class in England – Friedrich Engels
The Immoralist – André Gide
The Rosa Luxemburg Reader
The Threepenny Opera – Bertolt Brecht
Why now?
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Nazi book burnings by Goebbels in (10th May 1933). It is also the 50th anniversary of the Theatres Act, repealing censorship in British Theatres. Yet censorship persists in a variety of ways worldwide. In an era of endless social media feeds and encroaching government control, the written word creates a new truth and collapses an old one every second.
This series will give voice to silenced words and harness the power of language. It will bring literature to life as a way to counter current and historical censorship and destruction; the antithesis to burning books.
Other events
In May, JW3 are working with Belka Productions and Russian theatre company, Maly Drama Theatre on two events surrounding their production of Vassily’ Grossman’s Life and Fate (considered a 20th century War and Peace) at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (running 8-20 May).
On May 10 there will be readings of banned plays through the ages at Theatre Royal Haymarket
On May 17 at JW3 will be an In-conversation event with renowned Russian theater director, Lev Dodin (leader of Maly Drama Theatre and currently directing ‘Life and Fate’). The evening will also include staged readings from the Life and Fate.
The two events in May will be on sale on March 12th
There will be two more events in the Uncensored series in late 2018. These will be announced in May.
For more information, or to request an interview with the producers of Banned and Burned or with Index on Censorship, please contact [email protected].
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