The Project by Ian Buckley at the White Bear Theatre | Review
The Holocaust has been a major source of material for books, films, television programmes etc. Most of these tend to concentrate on the horrors of the death camps or the ghettos. But not all of the Nazi’s victims were sent straight to these places and some were interred in transit camps such as Westerbork which is the setting for Ian Buckley’s play The Project receiving its world premiere at the White Bear Theatre. At this camp, things are slightly better for the inmates. As well as reasonable housing – a far higher standard than in the ghettos – there is a school, hairdresser, and even restaurants for the occupants to use. Conditions may not be perfect but, under the command of SS Officer Conrad Schaffer (Mike Duran), life is bearable most of the time. It certainly is for the performers of the camp cabaret. While they have to wear the Jewish star on their clothing, at least it is their own clothes and not the striped pajamas worn in other parts of the Reich. The leader ...