A GERMAN LIFE

About the show

Christopher Hampton's play draws from the life and testimony of Brunhilde Pomsel, a Berlin secretary who worked for various employers during the 1930s, including a Jewish insurance broker, the German Broadcasting Corporation, and Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The production is based on interviews Pomsel gave to Austrian filmmakers shortly before her death in 2016, in which she reflected on her experiences and her limited awareness of events unfolding around her. Maggie Smith performed the solo role, bringing the historical figure's reflections to the stage under Jonathan Kent's direction.