The Met Theatre

Written by Cornelius Schnauber. Translated from the German by Anne Adams and John Howard. Directed by L. Flint Esquerra.

Cornelius Schnauber’s “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust” depicts a power struggle within the central nerve of the Third Reich between Reinhard Heydrich, the chief architect of the Final Solution, and his immediate supervisor, Heinrich Himmler, as Adolf Hitler plays them against one another. Meanwhile, Anna Muller, a beautiful Jewish servant girl, attempts to dissuade Heydrich from his hateful treatment of the Jews.

September 4- October 25, 2009. Fri. & Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3.
$10-$15, reservations: (323) 957-1152.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press/media contact: Philip Sokoloff, (626) 683-9205, showbizphil@sbcglobal.net
“HEYDRICH/HITLER/HOLOCAUST” : WORLD PREMIERE ENGAGEMENT BEGINS AT THE MET ON SEPTEMBER 4

WHAT: “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust.” World Premiere engagement of a new play.
WHO: Written by Cornelius Schnauber. Translated from the German by Anne Adams and John Howard. Directed by L. Flint Esquerra. Presented by The MET Theatre.
WHERE: The MET Theatre, downstairs in the Great Scott Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood, CA 90029. This is one block east of Western Ave. and a few steps south of Santa Monica Blvd. Parking is available (fee charged) ½ block east of the venue on Santa Monica Blvd. in the Earl Scheib lot.
WHEN: September 4- October 11, 2009. Fri. & Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3.
ADMISSION: $15.
RESERVATIONS: (323) 957-1152.

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In January of 1942, Heydrich and some top rulers of the Nazi regime met at the Wannsee Conference (in a suburb of Berlin) to determine the “Final Solution” for the Jews of Europe. This entailed the evacuation of Jews to concentration camps, where they were employed in forced labor or slaughtered outright.

Considered the chief architect of the Final Solution was Reinhard Heydrich, who held the titles of Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Director of the Reich Main Security Office, and President of Interpol (the international police organization). He created the Nazis’ spy networks and was third in line to succeed Hitler. Ambitious though he was, his personal enemies moved to thwart his political ambitions by continuing to spread long-circulated rumors of his partial Jewish ancestry. Although a 1932 investigation into his background ruled him as “untainted” Aryan, born into a Catholic family, still, his grandmother’s second husband, Heydrich’s grandfather, had the Jewish surname Süß, and was Jewish according to some encyclopedias of the time. Heydrich, therefore, started the rumor that his father was an Aryan foundling. Hitler was aware of these facts and used them to keep Heydrich in check.

The new play “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust” depicts Heydrich attempting to gain advantage over his immediate superior, Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer-SS and Reich Minister of the Interior. Himmler oversaw the killing of 6,000,000 Jews, 350,000 Roma (Gypsies), 3,000,000 Poles, and uncounted Homosexuals, disabled, prisoners of war, and members of the Confessing Church (a Protestant denomination opposed to the Nazification of the German Protestant Church).

Himmler is not unaware of Heydrich’s scheming, and is certainly not above machinations of his own. And Hitler is playing one against the other.

Meanwhile, Anna Muller, a beautiful Jewish servant girl, attempts to dissuade Heydrich from his hateful treatment of the Jews. Can her tenderness and beauty succeed in melting his heart?

Heydrich will conceivably succeed in moving higher in the Nazi hierarchy. But his enemies from within (Himmler) and from without (Czech operatives dispatched from England) will seek to thwart his ambitions.

L. Flint Esquerra is director of “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust.” The artistic director of the MET Theatre, he is currently nominated for the NAACP Theatre Award for Outstanding Director, for the MET production of “The Bones of Lesser Men.”

The cast of “Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust” includes (in alphabetical order) Ed Baccari, Joseph Beck, Scott Dewey, Oliver Finn, Don Paul, Ryan Robins and Jessica Sherman.

Cornelius Schnauber is the playwright. A novelist, author, and internationally recognized scholar, he is director of the Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies at USC. Among the many honors Dr. Schnauber has received are included the Distinction of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria; The Federal Republic of Germany Friendship Award; the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; the first Lifetime Achievement Award (in 2003) of the American Association of Teachers of German; and a resolution of the Los Angeles City Council citing Dr. Schnauber for his contribution to the understanding of the cultural heritage of the City of Los Angeles and the longstanding history of friendship between Berlin and Los Angeles. The MET previously presented his plays, “Irma and Emma” and “Wagner and Mendelssohn, Music and Women.”

“Heydrich/Hitler/Holocaust” is an examination of a fascinating if sorrowful chapter of the 20th Century, told from a knowledgeable perspective.