Depicting the Holocaust on stage can be incredibly challenging and it often goes wrong in spite of good intentions. With its production Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust, Voices has done a remarkable job bringing Susan Pollack's unforgettable personal story to new audiences with sensitivity and emotion while also never veering from historical facts and complexities. It is quite an accomplishment to strike such a delicate balance." Alex Maws (AJR. Formally Head of Education at the Holocaust Educational Trust)
Voices embodies the objective of ensuring the experiences of survivors and victims of the Holocaust are not lost in the post survivor era. Our mission is to show that sustainable, sensitive, dynamic, contemporary theatre can become their powerful surrogate human voice. We are an education organisation; our plays are historically accurate, woven with core educational themes and ideas, and our pedagogy is guided by four core principles;
- Hearing the difficult truths of an incredibly challenging period in human history, and to consider the complex realities of human behaviour and fallibility,
- Reflecting not only on what was lost, but of what was never had; to build an awareness of the changed landscape of European and British society as well as ensuring Jewish culture and heritage are present in our contemporary world,
- Considering the complex conditions that led to the Holocaust and of what was, consequently lost; the voices of the past,
- Understanding from as well as about the Holocaust; to encourage consideration of other silenced voices and to empower young people and communities to use their own voices to engage in human rights issues, placing themselves actively and ethically in their societies and the wider global landscape.
- £1,000 sponsors a whole school, taking Kindness to a whole year group and supporting a whole school commitment to ongoing Holocaust education with Voices work,,
- £150 sponsors a class to receive impactful Holocaust education through Voices work,
- £2 sponsors a student, contributing to an education programme that makes real and concrete differences to that students life.
There is a big discussion about the ethics of making the Holocaust into art, a thing of beauty. Theatre in education company Voices of the Holocaust shows how it can be done; not simply as entertainment but as historically researched, no holds barred reflections. You cannot attend without thinking deeply about the Holocaust and what it is to be human. (Darius Jackson, Centre for Holocaust Education, University of London)
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