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.
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.
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)
