Hamburg. World War Two is over. Food is still scarce. So, when hungry Hermann creeps into the kitchen to steal an extra slice of bread at 2.30am, he gets a shock when his wife Martha catches him red-handed. Martha is dismayed because she feels that he has broken their agreement to ration the bread equally between them.
This apparently small incident takes on an ever-increasing emotional significance as past, present and future come under close scrutiny.
‘You’re right. We have to look to the future. But every now and then I feel
I cannot get on with the present, because, first, I have to come to terms with the past.’
Pogo Theatre was formed by Alan Booty and Joanna Karlsson in 2021. An erstwhile teacher of German and Drama, Alan later trained as a professional actor. He has performed with the National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and various key roles for the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, including Capulet and Falstaff. Recently he played the titular role in an acclaimed production of King Lear, also at The Jack Studio. Regular performances in Hamburg at The English Theatre enabled him to meet with the people of Hamburg who experienced life in the city at the end of World War Two, which has enabled him to ensure authenticity in the writing of this piece, his first full length play.
Das Brot
Wolfgang Borchert (1921_1947), was the founder of Trümmerliteratur (“literature of the ruins”), realistically depicting the physical and spiritual state of Germany immediately after World War Two. In his last two years – he died aged 26 – he became practically bedridden, but it was then that he wrote some fifty short stories, including Das Brot (1946), from which this play, The Loaf, draws influence.
The Loaf is a simple but intense short story. Above all, amongst researching the stress of coping with being poor in Hamburg, we found the power of humour: “Humour – you know, when times are bad, it is sometimes good to laugh”.
The Loaf
written by Alan Booty, inspired by the tale Das Brot by Wolfgang Borchert.
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH
Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk or 0333 666 3366 (£1.80 fee for phone bookings only)
Dates: Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 January 2023 at 7.30pm
Tickets: £16, £14 concessions (suitable for 12+)
Theatre website: www.brockleyjack.co.uk
