• Overview
• Staging information
• Translations
• Sample translations
• Production history

Scene

The structure of Himmelweg is non-chronological:

• Act 1 takes place in the present as the Red Cross Representative recalls his experience years ago of visiting the concentration camp.
• Act 2 is set further back in time at a point before the Representative undertook his visit. The Jewish inmates are rehearsing their scenes for the charade that will be performed when this visit takes place.
• In act 3 the Commandant directly addresses the audience. Past and present combine as the spectators become those who will, in a few minutes the Commandant tells them, embark on their own tour of the camp.
• Act 4 is divided into eleven scenes. In it the Commandant and Gottfried begin constructing the charade that will eventually deceive the Red Cross Representative. This act traces the creation of the performance and moves forward in time to a point where this performance has successfully deceived the Representative.
• Act 5 takes place before the visit of the Red Cross Representative. In it only Gottfried speaks as  he encourages his fellow inmates to learn their lines for the forthcoming charade.

Each of the five acts has a subtitle:

Act 1: The Clockmaker of Nuremberg

Act 2: Smoke

Act 3: What the Silence of Peace Will Be Like

Act 4: The Heart of Europe

Act 5: A Song to Finish

Staging

The play text does not provide many definitive instructions as regards staging. Some aspects/props that are required or suggested by the script are as follows:

• A doll for the little girl to play with in the stream in act 2.
• A spinning top for the boys to practise with in act 2 and for the Commandant to rehearse with in act 4.
• The male from the arguing couple in act 2 carries different sizes of packages that are to be given to his female companion as a present during his rehearsals.
• The Commandant refers to his library many times during his speeches. In his office he uses files containing information about the Jews. He scripts the Jews' performance using a map of the camp and little coloured pins that denote the position of each inmate/actor.
• Gottfried uses a walking stick.
• Costume is not specified. Some productions used a Nazi uniform for the Commandant.

Sound

The stage directions at the beginning of act 2 indicate that occasionally the sound of a passing train can be heard.

Music

At the end of the play Raquel, the little girl with the doll, sings a song. The song is not specified.

Cast number

Minimum	Maximum
8 males	9 males
3 females	3 females
11 (total)	12 (total)

Cast information

At the beginning of act 2 the stage directions suggest that some background activity is taking place, performed by silent actors: children on swings; an old man reading a newspaper; a balloon seller; the blessing of a Jewish meal. In some productions the actor playing the part of the Red Cross Representative has also performed the role of the Commandant.

Characters

• RED CROSS REPRESENTATIVE
• COMMANDANT
• GERSHOM GOTTFRIED, Designated the spokesman of the Jewish inmates
• MAN FROM YOUNG COUPLE ON BENCH
• FIRST WOMAN FROM YOUNG COUPLE ON BENCH, Red-headed
• SECOND WOMAN FROM YOUNG COUPLE ON BENCH, Not red-headed
• LITTLE GIRL, Raquel, Gottfried’s daughter.
• BOY 1
• BOY 2
• BOY 3
• BOY 4
• BOY 5

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

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