Out of the Wings

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Himmelweg (Camino del cielo) (2002-2003), Juan Mayorga Ruano

Titles
English title: Himmelweg: Way to Heaven
Notable variations on Spanish title: Himmelweg, Camino del cielo
Date written: from 2002 to 2003
First publication date: 2002
First production date: 17 October 2003
Keywords: violence > murder, violence > cruelty, identity > race, history, history > memory, ideology > religion and faith, power > use and abuse
Genre and type: tragedy
Title information

In German ‘Himmelweg’ means ‘Way to Heaven’. This was the euphemism for the ramp that led Jews from trains into gas chambers. In the play the Red Cross Representative is told that it is a nickname for the ramp that leads to the camp’s infirmary.

Pitch

In German, it’s ‘Himmelweg’. In English, it’s ‘Way to heaven’. Such beautiful expressions in either language. Yet they mask a deadly reality – cynical euphemisms for the ramp that leads Jewish concentration camp inmates to their deaths. They are linguistic disguises, just as performance becomes a disguise in Himmelweg to conceal the horrors of concentration camp life from a Red Cross Representative. Rather than gas chambers and cruel guards, the Representative sees nothing unusual, as the Jewish inmates are forced to perform ‘normality’ for their visitor. Duped by what he sees, the Representative goes away satisfied that the rumours of inhumane Nazi death camps are untrue.

Yet how much power does a performance have to deceive? Was the Representative really duped or was he happy to believe in the superficial pretence of reality in front of him? When faced with the bombastic and intimidating theatrics used by governments today to conceal atrocities, are we - unlike the Representative - prepared to speak out?

Synopsis

In 1944 Maurice Rossel, a Swiss Representative of the Red Cross visited the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Before his visit this camp had been converted into a mod... (Read more...)

Sources

The experience of the Red Cross Representative in Himmelweg (Camino del cielo) is reminiscent of that of the Swiss Red Cross Representative, Maurice Rossel. Rossel visited the Theresie... (Read more...)

Critical response

In general, responses to productions of the plays have been positive. Critics have shown a preference for understated portrayals of the Nazi Commandant that emphasise the fact that he i... (Read more...)

Further information


Editions
  • Mayorga, Juan. 2002. ‘Himmelweg’. In Historias de las fotografías, eds. Rafael Doctor Roncero and Sara Rosenberg, pp. 121-131. Madrid, Caja Madrid

  • Mayorga, Juan. 2004. Himmelweg. Malag... (Read more...)

Useful readings and websites
  • Video of director Tanya Goldberg discussing the 2010 production of Way to Heaven, Sydney, Australia, is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eacIpUZfwoM [accessed March 2010] (Online Publication) (Moving images)

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 6 October 2010.

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