Works of Maya Arad Yasur performed in Germany

The works of Israeli playwright Maya Arad Yasur have been produced worldwide and translated into thirteen languages. To date, six of her plays have been translated into German, and have been staged at various theatres throughout the country.

Her most successful play, “Amsterdam,” which won first prize at the 2018 Theatertreffen Festival in Berlin, was selected to be presented in schools as a tool for educating the young generation about Holocaust remembrance. The play weaves different layers of history together by using a gas bill as a connecting element, revealing the far-reaching consequences of the Holocaust. With a great deal of wit and a skillful narrative, Arad Yasur has succeeded in creating a play that depicts the horrors of the Holocaust in a modern way. Using this approach, “Amsterdam” has generated interest among young audiences, helping to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.

The premiere of Arad Yasur’s latest play, “Bomb – Variations on Refusal,” was held on February 3 in Lübeck, Germany. Arad Yasur attended the event under the auspices of the Israeli embassy in Germany

Israeli director Sapir Heller, who staged “Amsterdam” at the Munich People’s Theater (Münchner Volkstheater), is producing “Bomb – Variations on Refusal.”

Said Arad Yasur, “The theatre in Germany embraces different voices and different forms of theatre, and that gives an author a lot more freedom to explore nonlinear and more fragmented structures of thought, which sometimes, it seems to me, can bring one a bit closer to some kind of truth.”

Sapir Heller added, “Maya doesn’t present ready-made characters or a finished story. These are built by the actors in front of the audience. As a director, it gives me a great deal of freedom of action.”