A German Life with Despoina Mbembedeli

The new play by the highly-acclaimed Christopher Hampton, which recently premiered in London with the great Dame Maggie Smith returning to the stage, makes a Pan-Hellenic premiere in Cyprus on March 6.

Titled A German Life, the play is based on the life and testimony of Brunhilde Pomsel – a life that covers the 20th century. To say that Pomsel went through difficult times as a secretary in Berlin in the 1930s doesn’t begin to cover her experiences. Her last employer? Joseph Gebells, Nazi German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Hampton’s work is based on the testimony given by Pomsel when she finally broke her silence to a group of Austrian filmmakers in 2016, shortly before her death, at the age of 106.

“I had no idea what was happening,” she had told them. “Or very little. Nothing more than anybody else. So you can’t make me feel guilty.”

One of Greece’s most respectable actresses, Despona Mbembedeli will take on the role of Pomsel, directed by Andreas Araouzos in a pioneer collaboration between Satiriko Theatre and Alpha Square. The play premieres on March 6 in Nicosia with six shows until March 22.

On April 8 it will travel to Paphos and on May 7 to Limassol.

 

A German Life

Play by Christopher Hampton based on the life of Brunhilde Pomsel. March 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22. Satiriko Theatre, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €12

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.