A play in music and mime presented by Associazione Culturale Musica Venezia and Compagnia Teatrale “Il libro con gli stivali”

The work has been written based on research on the camps during the Second World War, the book “Terezin: designs and poetry by the children at the concentration camp', and the film by Jerry Lewis which was never finished, “The Day the Clown Cried” about the German clown Helmut Dorque, who was sent to a concentration camp for his anti-Nazi remarks. In exchange for liberty, the clown has the task of making the children laugh on the way to the gas chamber. From this story a performance without words has been created which expresses the horrible sensations of all of us facing such a terrible tragedy; an inhuman voyage during the Holocaust, composed of poetic and delicate scenes, told through the eyes of an imaginative child and a hero with a red nose. The play includes a celebration of Channukah, which commemorates the revolt of the Jews led by Judas Maccabee. Like Passover and Purim, this is one of the annual festivals in which Jews remember that although persecuted throughout their history, the Jewish people have survived. Included in the play are Chanukkah songs sung by pupils of the International School of Venice under the guidance of the music instructor Pamela Hume. There will also be instrumental music by the Venice Klezmer Ensemble, Alvise Seggi, director, and scenes in pantomime interpreted by Gaetano Ruoco Guadagno and Susi Danesin of the theater company “Il libro con gli stivali”. The play will be directed by Gaetano Ruoco Guadagno, and Oscar Sabini, illustrator of children’s books, will create images projected on the screen during various episodes of the play.