A performance mixing readings from Philippe Sands' book of the same (pre-subtitle) name by Sands himself and a female actor with songs for piano and voice that were somehow meaningful to the figures in the story told in the readings, of the Nuremberg trials - principally Hans Frank, Governor-General of occupied Poland, Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the lawyers involved with the British prosecution and originator of the concept of crimes against humanity, and Raphael Lemkin, who advised the American prosecutorial team and pushed the idea of genocide into international law (Lauterpacht and Lemkin both lost nearly their entire families at the hands of Nazi Germany).
There is, of course, an inherent great gravity to its subject matter and these 90 minutes did prompt reflections. In artistic terms, I wouldn't say it was anything to write home about - the story-telling is fine but nothing extraordinary, the stagecraft minimal, the voice acting so-so, the singing maybe not top notch. (The music was varied, including Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Beethoven, Bach and more ... not to mention Leonard Cohen's "Anthem".) But as a story that needs to be told, I didn't fault it.
(w/ Jarrod)
There is, of course, an inherent great gravity to its subject matter and these 90 minutes did prompt reflections. In artistic terms, I wouldn't say it was anything to write home about - the story-telling is fine but nothing extraordinary, the stagecraft minimal, the voice acting so-so, the singing maybe not top notch. (The music was varied, including Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Beethoven, Bach and more ... not to mention Leonard Cohen's "Anthem".) But as a story that needs to be told, I didn't fault it.
(w/ Jarrod)
