PODCAST · history
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage
by Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner
Blending performing arts and history, LUOTD delves into what it means to represent the Holocaust onstage. Co-hosting from London and New York, theatre historian Samantha Mitschke and actor Alexandra Gellner discuss all things Holocaust-theatre. Bringing their perspectives as Holocaust educators, the pair look at how theatre can help with teaching and learning about the Holocaust as they offer fresh and thought-provoking insights.
Episodes
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"The Lucky Star" by Karen Hartman
This week, Sam and Alex delve into The Lucky Star by Karen Hartman, based on Richard Hollander’s book Every Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family’s Correspondence from Poland. Following the death of his parents in a car accident, journalist Richard Hollander discovers a hidden suitcase in their…
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"Here There Are Blueberries" by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
In this week’s episode, coinciding with Yom HaShoah, Sam and Alex look at Here There Are Blueberries by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of an album donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum containing never-before-seen photographic…
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Women's History: "Blonde Poison" by Gail Louw
CONTENT WARNING: References to suicide; sexual references In this week’s episode, originally recorded for Women’s History Month, Sam and Alex look at Gail Louw’s 2013 one-woman play Blonde Poison. Stella Goldschlag was living illegally in war-torn Berlin when she herself was betrayed and…
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"Bent" by Martin Sherman
CONTENT WARNING: Explicit content and references to suicide In this week’s episode, coinciding with the end of Queer History Month in the UK, Sam and Alex explore Martin Sherman’s groundbreaking play Bent. The first major play - if not the first play - to represent the Nazi persecution of gay…
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"Album Karla Höckera / The Album of Karl Höcker" with Paul Bargetto
CONTENT WARNING: References to suicide In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex talk to director and dramaturg Paul Bargetto about devised part process, part docu-drama Album Karla Höckera / The Album of Karl Höcker. Co-created by Paul in collaboration with his team at Teatr Trans-Atlantyk, an...
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"Leopoldstadt" by Tom Stoppard
In this week’s season premiere, timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day and its 2026 theme of “Bridging Generations,” Sam and Alex look at Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna. But Hermann Merz, a...
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The "Lights Up" 2025 Lookback
In this episode - the last one of Season 2 - Sam and Alex look back on 2025 and the first two seasons of LUOTD. They recap how the podcast came about; talk about the highlights, from special guests to a global audience; the challenges, including politics and time zones; their top three Holocaust...
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"Kindertransport" by Diane Samuels
In this episode, Sam and Alex explore Kindertransport by Diane Samuels. In 1938-39, nearly 10,000 mostly Jewish children were brought to the UK as part of a humanitarian mission that rescued them from what was to come in Nazi-occupied Europe - but meant that many never saw their parents again....
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Representing Resistance: "Rescued From The Holocaust" & "Dr. Yanush Korczak"
In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at two short plays for middle schoolers: Rescued From The Holocaust by Sean Price and Dr. Yanush Korczak by Alina Kentof. As well as a discussion about the highlights, challenges and contemporary relevance of working with the plays, the pair explore the...
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S2 E2, Part 2: Shonaleigh Cumbers and "The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto"
“In the last clearing of the Warsaw Ghetto three children find themselves on a transportation to Auschwitz and encounter the Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto. He offers them a moment of magic in which to escape – if they have the courage to take it… Not all stories have a happy ending, but they should…
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S2 E2, Part 1: Shonaleigh and "The Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto"
In the first part of this special two-part episode, Sam and Alex look at a vibrant part of Jewish culture that was nearly lost during the Holocaust: the drut’syla storytelling tradition. Special guest Shonaleigh Cumbers, believed to be the last living drut’syla, talks to the girls about the...
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"Cabaret"
Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome…the girls are back! In the season premiere, Sam and Alex look at the iconic musical Cabaret and ask: Is it a ‘Holocaust play’? The conversation includes their encounters with it, from childhood memories up to recent performances in London and New York; key…
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"Playing for Time" by Arthur Miller
In this week’s episode, Sam and Alex look at Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Fania Fénelon’s memoir of her time in the women’s orchestra of Auschwitz. The pair talk about the history of the orchestras at Auschwitz, including the relative ‘privilege’ of the musicians; the life and experiences of...
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"Performing Captivity, Performing Escape: Cabarets and Plays from the Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto," edited by Lisa Peschel (16th June 2025)
Content warning: this episode contains references to disordered eating. In this week’s episode, Alex and Dr Sam talk to Professor Lisa Peschel - whose interviews with Czech survivors of Terezin/Theresienstadt led to the discovery of numerous scripts, previously thought lost, of the performances...
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"Fear and Misery of the Third Reich" by Bertolt Brecht (2nd June 2025)
In this week’s episode, Dr Sam and guest co-host John Summers-Campbell explore the most naturalistic of Brecht’s works: a series of 24 episodic scenes that illustrate what life was like for ordinary Germans under the Nazis in the build-up to the Second World War. Sam and John discuss aspects such...
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Contested Histories: "Our Class" and the Jedwabne Pogrom (21st April 2025)
Content warning: Discussions of sexual violence and graphic descriptions of antisemitic violence and killings. In this episode - the first in the Contested Histories series - Sam and Alex explore Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, translated/adapted by Ryan Craig. Based on the controversial…
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"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne, adapted by Angus Jackson (7th April 2025)
Since its publication in 2006, John Boyne’s novel has been the subject of criticism in the world of Holocaust education. Set at Auschwitz and telling the fictional story of a friendship between the naive son of a Nazi officer and a Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, the book continues to split...
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"All Our Children" by Stephen Unwin (17th March 2025)
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to violence and a mention of SA against children. “January 1941. A terrible crime is taking place in a clinic for disabled children. The perpetrators argue that it will help struggling parents and lift the financial burden on the mighty German...
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Impossible Choices: "The White Factory" by Dmitry Glukhovsky (24th February 2025)
Content warning: References to suicide and SA against women and children. In this episode - the first in the Impossible Choices series - Sam and Alex explore Dmitry Glukhovsky’s The White Factory. Beginning in 1960s New York, the play follows survivor Yosef Kaufmann as he learns a notorious SS...
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All the Anne Franks (10th February 2025)
In their very first episode, Sam and Alex explore stage adaptations of Anne Frank’s diary - including one man’s obsession with telling Anne’s story; how most people don’t realise how a single play has impacted their perception of the Diary; ideas on how working with a stage adaptation can help...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Blending performing arts and history, LUOTD delves into what it means to represent the Holocaust onstage.
Co-hosting from London and New York, theatre historian Samantha Mitschke and actor Alexandra Gellner discuss all things Holocaust-theatre. Bringing their perspectives as Holocaust educators, the pair look at how theatre can help with teaching and learning about the Holocaust as they offer fresh and thought-provoking insights.
HOSTED BY
Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage have?
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage currently has 20 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage about?
Blending performing arts and history, LUOTD delves into what it means to represent the Holocaust onstage. Co-hosting from London and New York, theatre historian Samantha Mitschke and actor Alexandra Gellner discuss all things Holocaust-theatre. Bringing their perspectives as Holocaust educators,...
How often does Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage release new episodes?
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage has 20 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage?
You can listen to Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage?
Lights Up on the Dark: The Holocaust Onstage is created and hosted by Samantha Mitschke & Alexandra Gellner.
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