Performance times: 10:00am & 12:30pm

The play begins early morning somewhere in the Australian countryside. Four children wait for the school bus and they decide to play a game; a simple game of story-telling. As they shelter in the bus stop from a raging storm Anna creates an intriguing story and simultaneously on stage we begin to hear the bombing of Berlin and we see Heidi crawl from a bunker. With a large birthmark across her face, we discover that Heidi is the disfigured daughter of Hitler. Caught in the turmoil of war, she is hidden away by her father, one of the most dreaded men in history.

Back at the bus shelter Mark becomes so engrossed in Anna’s story; he begins to wonder how it would feel to be the child of someone as evil as Hitler. As the play evolves, Mark’s search for truth in a world of half-truths becomes clearer and the story culminates in the bombing of Berlin, the fall of the Third Reich and the end of Heidi’s innocence.

Hitler’s Daughter poses powerful questions and examines moral issues in relation to society’s fears and prejudices. When Monkey Baa first presented Hitler’s Daughter in 2006, the notion of a factual and historical event being told through the 'story' of a fictional character was exciting in that it allowed audiences to immerse themselves in history as it came to life onstage. The audience is left with the lingering question, as Mark is: Did Hitler really have a daughter? Was she real?

Today, in an age of fake news and fact manipulation, extreme ideologies and rising nationalism, there has never been a more important and relevant time to present this work. Hitler’s Daughter demands its young audiences to question the reality of truth, and notions of personal responsibility and prejudice.

Based on the book by Jackie French
Adapted for the stage by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge & Tim McGarry
Directed by Sandra Eldridge
Lighting Designer Luiz Pampolha
Set and Costume Designer Imogen Ross
Sound Designer Jed Silver
Photo credit: Heidrun Lohr