We are hugely excited to express our sincere gratitude to Arts Nova Scotia and the taxpayers of Canada for their generous support.

Co-writers Jamie Bradley (book) and Garry Williams (music & Lyrics) have been awarded financial support – so necessary to devote the desired time and energy towards this project – for the continued creation and development of KAMP in the Fall/Winter 2016 - 2017.

When we create theatre, we often celebrate the living by honouring the dead in order to pave the way for posterity. It is with deep and complex emotion that we observe the passing of Elie Wiesel, whose memoirs shaped our perception of what it means to be human in a sometimes cruel and senseless world.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/holocaust-survivor-elie-wiesel-obit-dead-1.3662381

Last night, we hosted an Information Session at the Halifax Music Co-Op, our projected venue for the 2017 workshop staging of KAMP. Thanks to our generous volunteers and supporters in attendance, we had a warm and welcoming reception, including this amazing rainbow layer-cake created by Maggie Hammel. 

This was a first step in reaching out to people who might be interested in seeing the show – when and if we can produce it –, creative partners who might be able to help us realize the show, and sponsors who might be able to help us afford the hire a creative team, rent a rehearsal space, and present this to an audience. Thank you to the lovely people who attended, and spoke to us, and our volunteers who made the night run so smoothly. 

Our lovely host for the evening, Lara Lewis, navigated us through the evening, with assistance from her stunning "Vanna White" for the evening: Quincy Russell. 

Long-time DaPoPo supporter Robin Metcalfe presented an informative talk and slide show. He focussed on the emergence of a discourse around homosexuality in Germany in the mid 19th century, the emergence of a vibrant queer community in Berlin, and the Pink Triangle – the symbol used to designate homosexuals in the camps, later reclaimed by the queer community –, and the catastrophic turn of events with Hitler's rise to power, and the enforcement of Paragraph 175, the legal criminalization of homosexuality. 

The inimitable Elle Noir, a staple of the Halifax queer community, performed, conjuring music from the 1920s – specifically American jazz music, all of which was prohibited by the Nazi party, and labelled "degenerate", and racially inferior music. The score for KAMP is somewhat of an homage to the rich musical soundscape of Weimar Germany, and its international influences. 

Ian Mullin, Kyle Gillis and Jake Willet (Kyle and Jake are not pictured) – all members of our original workshop cast at the DaPoPo Live-in Festival last year – volunteered their talents, joining co-creator Jamie Bradley and Garry Williams to perform excerpts from the show. 

Adam Reid and Sebastien Labelle, of the Queer Acts Festival and Mayworks Halifax Festival respectively – were there to express their support of the project. DaPoPo has presented work in both Festivals; we are, again, so grateful to be collaborating on this project.  

Our venue sponsor for the evening, John Bogardus of the Halifax Music Co-Op, with whom was have been in joyful and engaging dialogue about this project, pledged his support for this ambitious project. 

Now all we need to do is raise $100,000.- (many times the usual budget available through traditional funding avenues), finish writing the show, hire our crew. The evening ended on an encouraging war-cry from our audience: "We can do this!" 

And even if we don't yet quite know how we are going to do this, we know it will be a community effort. 

What is KAMP? 

KAMP is a new Canadian Musical. Co-writers  Jamie Bradley (Book) and Garry Williams (Music and Lyrics) created a first draft exactly one year ago, May 2015, at the Playwrights' Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC) Colony in Sackville, New Brunswick. That Fall, it was developed with the support of Arts Nova Scotia, and a number of amazing volunteers at DaPoPo's Live-In Festival.

(From upper left: Colin Oulton, Michael Lake, Marc Eden, Jake Willett, Ross Unger, Matthew Lamley, Ian Mullin, Kristi Anderson, Oliver Gray, Zach Faye, Andrew Kasprzak, Quincy Russell; front row: Kyle Gillis, Avery Brennan.)

At the time of this post, it is being further developed, moving towards a workshop production, which makes us wonder, "How on earth are we going to do this?" 

One way to describe the project is, ‘What happens to the Emcee from Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret when the show ends?’ That is when KAMP begins. This musical tells the story of a group of men using their wit, their affectation, their sentimentality, their irreverence, their satire, their talent, and their over-the-top flamboyance as a way to survive, hold on to their identities and maintain their humanity. While in the work camp – some would say: death camp –, they rehearse and present cultural evenings – cabaret nights. This fact is historically documented. Ours is a work of fiction.

This piece is about the triumph of the human spirit. It is about community – in this case, a specific community, the community of men targeted by the anti-homosexuality law Paragraph 175, enforced by the Nazis from 1933. It is about institutionalized discrimination against visible minorities, discrimination that still exists (albeit not in such extreme form) here in Nova Scotia, and elsewhere. It is about a piece of near-forgotten history; and it is about our timeless will for survival, and transcendence, in light of persecution, uncertainties, mortality and seemingly unbearable hardship. 

Discussing this project with colleagues and peers, we encountered the same reactions over and over: “We've never heard this story! Were gays really persecuted?” It is, in fact, not widely known that thousands of homosexuals were interred – and murdered – in Nazi camps; their history – as so much of queer history – is dangerously close to being lost. (Sherman’s play Bent tackles the issue, focussing on his protagonist’s need to accept his gay identity; we begin in the gay barracks, and focus on a community of homosexuals, and institutionalized homophobia.) Even fewer representations can be found of the cultural events conducted at the camps. This is where KAMP is bold, and new – a Musical, celebrating queer culture, while remembering that community’s persecution.

(Homosexual prisoners in an over-crowded isolation block in Sachsenhausen concentration camp)