All About Jewish Theatre - Levi’s masterpiece in Paris and Geneva

Following the great success in London New York and a tour to Cape Town two adaptations of the classic Holocaust-era autobiography by Italian Jewish author Primo Levi is impressing audiences at a Paris and Geneva theatres.

Although “Se questo e un uomo” (If this is a man) was roundly ignored when it was first published in 1947, the work was later seen by literary experts as one of the major works of the 20th century. The story has been adapted for the Theatre de Menilmontant15 rue du retrait in Paris by Patrick Olivier, a French Jewish actor and director. In his production Olivier has used passages of Levi’s book with excerpts of a poem by Benjamin Fondane, a writer of Romanian origin, six video sequences and a few violin tunes.

On the empty scene : a bench, a stele, a white linen and the word of a man…who remembers us that “when we damage human dignity we are destroying the whole humanity.” Warning for the future

‘If this is a Man,’ tells of Levi’s experiences as a victim of the Holocaust, from his arrest by the fascists in 1943 to the liberation of Auschwitz by the Russians.
Olivier said he chose to transmit the testimony both out of duty not to forget Holocaust and as an appeal for vigilance amongst the younger generation.
A chemist of learning, Levi was born in Turin in 1919. He committed suicide in the Italian city in 1987.
“Primo explained that Holocaust represented absolute evil and a breaking point of our civilisation,” Olivier says “We must realise that when Hitler and Mussolini spoke in public, people believed them and admired them as Gods,” he added. Levi, a Jewish intellectual and Auschwitz survivor, describes the dehumanization, depersonalization and extermination process led by the Nazis.

“The sole fact that Auschwitz existed should prohibit anyone today from pronouncing the word providence,” Levi wrote.
“Levi’s text speaks for itself and we leave the play shaken and outraged and the loud voice of Olivier still resonates in me,” said one audience member, Henri A. who has seen the play but asked not to be identified.

“The work of Patrick Olivier is authentic. He doesn’t dramatize the story,” this spectator added.
Arno, Henri’s son added: “There are not many books like ‘If this is a man’ describing the chaos in Europe in the immediate post-war with such lucidity. I only wish this work will be used as a perpetual warning for everyone.”

“In these troubled times, this play adapted by Olivier must be hailed because it acts as an alarm for youths. Conscientiousness can be derailed and darken again. Ours too. The danger is still present because what happened may happen again.”

Performed by the Swiss actor and playwright, Philippe Luscher, the stage adaptation of “If this is a man” in Geneva’s Grutli Theatre aimd to give a faithful rendition of Primo Levi’s seminal work on his internment at Auschwitz. Among other things, Levi describes how when he arrived at Buna-Monowitz near Auschwitz in March 1944, the death camps had already largely fulfilled their task. So many Jews had already been executed that there were no longer enough workers in the Reich’s factories. The workforce, which had at first seemed inexhaustible, was decreasing and the convoys from Hungary comprised many women and children. The German army faced imminent defeat on all fronts.

The text’s strength is that it shows the spectator the terrible process of dehumanization that took place in Auschwitz. It also sends out a warning message: for to know what happened is one thing, but to remember it and ensure it will never happen again, is another.

For the stage adapation, Luscher chose extracts from the text, which he adapted in a remarkable way. The one-man play was performed in a simple, powerful manner. Standing motionless on the stage, Luscher slips effortlessly into his role. He takes spectators on a slow and painful journey, which will leave no one unmoved. For Luscher, the interpretation of Levi’s text is a way of denouncing human violence, not only during WWII, but also before and after, and around the world. Critics described “If this is a man” as the most lucid testimony of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Born in 1959, Philippe Luscher studied theatre and theatre production in Geneva and Marseilles. Today the playwright, translator and actor is the director of the Grutli Theatre.

In the last few years, the Grutli Theatre has staged several plays on the Holocaust theme, including “Unknown at this address” by Kreismann Taylor, “The Reader” by Bernhard Schlink, “Oh you, human brothers” by Albert Cohen and very recently “Kaddish for an unborn child” by Irme Kertesz.
The stage adaptation of “If this is a man” is part of this series. .

In September 2005, ‘If this is a man’ received a UNESCO award at the International Festival of Maladzechna in Belarus.
and was performed until at the Menilmontant theatre, in the heart of 20th quarter of Paris ( November 2005 ) and at the Grutli Theatre in Geneva (January - February 2006 )

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