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Jewish Anger and Despair

Three Jewish women return to Germany. Can one still live here?, ask Lena Brasch and Juri Sternburg in their "Jewsical" at the Berliner Maxim-Gorki-Theater.

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2 min read
In this picture there is a photograph placed on a wooden table. In the front we can see a man...
In this picture there is a photograph placed on a wooden table. In the front we can see a man wearing black color coat is playing violin. Behind there is a black background. On the top of the image there is a small quote written on it.

Jewish Anger and Despair

A new musical, East Side Story – A German Jewsical, has taken the stage with a fresh look at Jewish life in post-1945 Germany. Written by Juri Sternburg and directed by his mother, Lena Brasch, the production weaves together history, fiction, and music to explore survival, ideology, and identity. At its heart are three women, each representing a different path through the complexities of postwar Germany.

The story unfolds through Dora (Jasna Fritzi Bauer), the sole survivor of her family, who reimagines the lives of her lost relatives. She guides the audience through three grand struggles: human against human, human against system, and human against self. Her narration structures the events, blending personal tragedy with broader historical forces.

The set contrasts the ruins of a bourgeois tenement with sleek modernist architecture, while a four-piece band on the roof remains part of the action. Dora’s mother (Lindy Larsson) appears in a gown decorated with an African mask, a nod to classical modernism and bourgeois education. Meanwhile, Renate (Sesede Terziyan) holds up a black-and-white portrait of a socialist icon, symbolising her dedication to building the GDR. Gerda (Nairi Hadodo) wears a dress emblazoned with the title of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, embodying radical individualism.

The musical avoids grand spectacle, opting instead for melancholic pop, jazz, rap, and punk by composer Paul Eisenach. This approach allows for rhythmic precision and lyrical intensity without softening the weight of the subject. Humour and tragedy sit side by side, never slipping into sentimentality or undermining the gravity of the stories being told.

Through its bold staging and musical variety, East Side Story – A German Jewsical offers a nuanced portrait of Jewish existence in postwar Germany. The production’s blend of fiction and history, paired with its striking visuals and score, creates a space where complex legacies can be explored. The result is a work that honours memory while refusing easy answers.

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