Steven Spielberg uses the big screen to bring the Holocaust to the world. Alan Hopgood uses the imagination of the audience.

"The Emperor of the Ghetto" is a one-man play, written by Avraham Cykiert, a survivor of the Lodz Ghetto, in which Hopgood, as Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, tells his story of being arbitrarily selected by the Nazis to run the Ghetto from 1939 to 1944. He was a Jew. Schindler was a German. They both used unorthodox methods to save Jews but Rumkowski, controversially, had to oversee the death of many in order to try and save the few who ultimately survived to tell the story - among them Cykiert, the playwright.

 

This play has been performed in Jewish schools and to other survivors of that particular ghetto. They have all been amazed at the ability of Hopgood, neither Polish nor Jewish, to recreate a man, who for some will always remain a 'monster', for others, a 'saviour'.

But whatever one's belief, Hopgood's performance is rivetting and the pictures conjured up by one man, standing on a stage, with only three pieces of furniture, have been called by many the most powerful piece of theatre they have ever seen.

 

OPTIONS FOR PRESENTATION:

A. Play
Written by Avraham Cykiert, this is a one-man play about the controversial 'Eldest' of the Lodz Ghetto in 1939-1944, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, with an acclaimed performance by Alan Hopgood (Best Actor, Adelaide Fringe Festival 1994).

B. School Performances with Discussion
The play is important for students studying the Holocaust.
One hour duration followed by discussion with the students.
Most venues are suitable, as the play features minimalist staging.

C. Video
A two-hour video with archival stills and film clips is available through Bay Street or Safety Image (Melbourne 9752 7455).
A one-hour video of the stage play is also available through Bay Street.

For more information, please email productions@bsp.net.au

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Created by: Simon Bolch (sbolch@dingoblue.net.au)

Maintainer: Fincina Hopgood (fhopgood@ormond.unimelb.edu.au)