Childhood experience of the ghetto in the performances for young spectators

The theatre makers often deal with the issue of the Holocaust, but predominantly they talked about the past and memory with adult audiences. Attempts to tell young audiences about the Holocaust are therefore a novelty in Polish theatre. Two performances: Huljet, huljet of Teatr Figur in Krakow and Rutka of the Arlekin Puppet Theatre in Lodz, both presenting the life of Jewish children in ghettos are examples of activities undertaken in this trend. Both of them are based on local stories related to the cities where theatres operate. Huljet, huljet, directed by Dagmara Żabska and Alla Maslovskaja, refers to the Krakow ghetto, Rutka, directed by Karolina Maciejaszek, to the Lodz ghetto. The common element for both shows constitutes making children the main characters and presenting life in a closed neighborhood from their perspective. The analysis of the indicated performances made it possible to check how the creators constructed the stories about the childhood experience of the ghetto and by what means they tried to convey this experience to the young audience. In this context it is worth to mention the importance of considerations done by Frank Ankersmit, in particular the categories of "historical experience" and "experience about the past".