On November 26, 1938, two hand grenades exploded in the performance hall during a performance by the Jewish singer from Bucovina Sidy Thal and her ensemble at the Timișoara Theatre. An anti-Semitic attack by the Iron Guard, a far-right nationalist group, in which four people died and seventy were injured.

An event, little known in the city of Timișoara, European Capital of Culture in the year 2023, which the playwright Thomas Perle and the director Clemens Bechtel researched with the help of Maria Mădălina Irimia from the Center for the Study of Jewish History "Wilhelm Filderman" in Romania and they created a documentary piece based on it.

What is true? What really happened? It is an attempt to reconstruct the attack and the moment when anti-Semitism and fascism became part of everyday life in a multicultural society, leading to the horror of World War II and the Shoah.

Sidy Tahl is the first cooperation between the German State Theater from Timișoara and the Jewish State Theater from Bucharest.

A multilingual work in Yiddish, German and Romanian.

Premiere: November 4, 2023, 7:30 p.m
Duration: 2 h

By Thomas Perle & Clemens Bechtel –– Director: Clemens Bechtel (a. G.)
Co-production: German State Theatre from Timișoara, Jewish State Theatre from Bucharest

Distribution: Radu Brănici / Mircea Dragoman (a.G.) / Rareș Hontzu / Maia Morgenstern (a.G.) / Viorica Predica (a.G.) / Enikő Blénessy / Katia Pascariu (a.G.) / Silvia Török / Mihai Prejban (a.G.) / Richard Hladik / Daniela Török / Olga Török / Oana Vidoni

Direction: Clemens Bechtel (a.G.) / Decor and costumes / Șteff Chelaru (a.G.) / None: Ioana Groza (a.G.) / Music: Dan Simion / Research: Maria Irimia (a.G.) / Dramaturgical collaboration: Dan Druta (a.G.) / Assisstant Director: Isolde Cobet / Makeup: Bojita Ilici / Technical direction: Ovidiu Radu