Towards an Understanding of Empathy in British and American Holocaust Theatre

EMPATHY EFFECTS: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF EMPATHY IN BRITISH AND AMERICAN HOLOCAUST THEATRE by SAMANTHA MITSCHKE A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Drama & Theatre Arts School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies College of Arts & Law University of Birmingham May 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. THESIS ABSTRACT This thesis considers how and why empathy is important in Anglo-American Holocaust theatre, utilising close readings of selected plays, existing theories of empathy and Holocaust representation, and authorial formulations of new empathic definitions. The first chapter examines the empathic responses of Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett and Meyer Levin to Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, and how these subsequently affected their stage adaptations of the book. The second chapter interrogates how spectator empathy with child protagonists is problematic in terms of the ‘Holocaust fairytale’ narrative often used, potentially leading to spectator misinformation in the context of historical fact. The third chapter investigates British critical responses to Bent in 1979 and 1990 in terms of ‘precocious testimony’, establishing that Bent was only received in its proper socio-political context upon the emergence of overt contemporary queer oppression. The final chapter explores how ‘empty empathy’, engendered by ‘Holocaust etiquette’, can be challenged through inverting Holocaust signs, or ‘balagan’, in ‘Holocaust cabarets’ to evoke alternative audience responses. The thesis concludes that empathy is central in Holocaust theatre, enabling spectators to identify and engage with representative characters – fulfilling the didactic purpose of Holocaust theatre in teaching about the genocide and encouraging anti- prejudicial views. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped contribute to this thesis in a variety of ways, ranging from being sounding boards for my ideas during lengthy late-night phone calls and cheering me on to offering practical support in everything from computer formatting to archival research. I would like to express my thanks to the following individuals in particular: Michael Cashman, Dan Clancy, Zdenka Fantlová and Roy Kift for kindly agreeing to give their time for interviews in the early stages of my research; my supervisors at the University of Birmingham, Dr. Vicky Angelaki and Professor Russell Jackson, and especially to Dr. Kara Reilly (University of Exeter), who supervised my research during its formative stages in the course of her time at Birmingham and without whose help, guidance and support this PhD would not have been possible; Adam Dixon and the staff of the Howard B. Gottlieb Center for Archival Research at Boston University for their assistance with the extensive archives of Meyer Levin; Gabriel Levin and the late Tereska Torres-Levin for their generosity, patience and help; Henry Lussier and Brian Dudley at the Lyric Stage, Boston for their assistance and generosity in providing copies of the archival reviews of Anne Frank: A Play; and John Nohndorf and Emily Goodridge for their research assistance in Madison (Wisconsin) and New York. My thanks to Georgia Baker and the staff of the National Theatre Archives, and the staff of the Theatre & Performance archives at the Victoria and Albert Museum, for their help with the archives of the 1979 and 1990 performances of Bent. I would particularly like to thank the late Eugene Lion for answering my intrigued questions surrounding Sammy’s Follies, encouraging me as a kindred spirit and inspiring me with his wit, warmth and passion until his untimely death in April 2013. Also my especial thanks to Eugene’s partner and collaborator, Jo Lechay, for her insight into Eugene’s work, her comments and suggestions regarding my chapter on balagan and Holocaust cabaret, and for her unfailing assistance and cheerful support throughout numerous drafts. My love and thanks to my parents, Val and Graham, who have not only supported me financially so that I could complete my degree but whose love, support and encouragement has enabled me to not just reach for the stars but to stuff my pockets with starlight; Graham Backhouse, Emma Boot, John Macdonald and Laura Nelhams have undoubtedly been my rocks throughout this whole process. Thank you for your patience while I endlessly fine-tuned my ideas; for your understanding when I needed to rant; for your pride in my achievements; for your excitement when the ‘D-Day’ countdown began; and for never doubting that I could do it. And, of course, my thanks to the authors of all the plays examined within this thesis: Kenneth Bernard, Julian Garner, Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett, Roy Kift, Joanna Halpert Kraus, Douglas W. Larche, Meyer Levin, Eugene Lion and Martin Sherman – in the absence of whose work the world would be poorer without the memories of those who were lost to ice and fire. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: THE ROLE OF EMPATHY IN THEATRICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HOLOCAUST ................................................................................................................ 1 ‘Holocaust fatigue’ defined ................................................................................................. 7 Issues with empathy ......................................................................................................... 10 The efficacy and potential of Holocaust theatre ................................................................ 13 EMPATHY AND THE AUTHOR: ADAPTATIONS OF ANNE FRANK’S DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL .................................................................................................................................... 19 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 19 The history of the Diary and the controversy surrounding adaptation ............................... 22 ‘Empathetic perspective-shifting’, ‘in-his-shoes perspective shifting’, ‘empathic projection’ and ‘advisory projection’ defined: their effects upon Levin and Goodrich & Hackett ......... 32 ‘Empathic distress’ defined and its effect on Levin and Goodrich ..................................... 39 The influence of the adapters’ empathic responses on the use of action/ extracts from the Diary ................................................................................................................................ 42 The influence of the adapters’ empathic responses on the use and inclusion of religion .. 50 The effect on spectator empathy: critical reactions to Goodrich & Hackett’s The Diary of Anne Frank (1955) ........................................................................................................... 61 The effect on spectator empathy: critical reactions to Levin’s Anne Frank: A Play (1991). 66 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 69 EFFECTIVE EMPATHY AND THE ‘HOLOCAUST FAIRYTALE’: CHILD PROTAGONISTS IN HOLOCAUST DRAMA ........................................................................................................ 76 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 76 The utilisation of children in the context of empathy and the Holocaust ............................ 79 Developing an understanding of audience empathy towards child protagonists: the human mirror neuron system and ‘primitive empathy’ .................................................................. 82 The evolution and seven precepts of the Holocaust fairytale ............................................ 84 Number the Stars: the archetypal Holocaust fairytale ....................................................... 95 Remember My Name: a ‘darker’ Holocaust fairytale ....................................................... 107 The Flight into Egypt: against the Holocaust fairytale ..................................................... 115 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 126 BENT AND THE STAGING OF THE QUEER HOLOCAUST EXPERIENCE..................... 130 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 130 The play in its historical context ...................................................................................... 131 Bent begins: ignorance, Stonewall, and the ‘private and the political’ ............................. 134 1979: Socio-political attitudes towards homosexuality and the resulting influence upon the critical response to Bent ................................................................................................. 139 Towards an understanding of the critical response: Bent as ‘precocious testimony’ ....... 143 1979: audience

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