The Book Thief – Curve Theatre, Leicester

Book: Timothy Allen McDonald and Jodi Picoult

Music and Lyrics: Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel

Writer: Markus Zusak

Director: Lotte Wakeham

The most powerful weapon is words is the oft-repeated message in The Book Thief. Set in Nazi Germany, we watch as Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda machine works its insidious magic on the population, while peer pressure and the fear of consequences does the rest. One otherwise sensible and sympathetic character asks, without irony, if it’s true that Jews drink babies’ blood and have tails like rats. If you’re going to lie to the people, make it a big lie and repeat it often and it will be as good as true. That was true in Nazi Germany and, as the adaptors note, the show arrives ‘at a moment when history seems destined to repeat itself’ in a new world of alternate facts.

Liesel becomes an orphan, her father taken for allegedly being a communist and her mother and brother dead. Alone in the world, she picks up a book left by her brother’s grave despite being unable to read. She is taken in by foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. The Hubermanns have no truck with Nazism but feel compelled to maintain an outward show of compliance. They are an odd couple, she very gruff, he quieter and contemplative, but what isn’t in doubt is that their hearts are in the right place and a strong bond develops between the three. They subsequently take in Max, a Jew fleeing the Nazis, and he works with Liesel to help her understand the power of words. As she begins to see what he means, she starts a journal to document all that she sees.

The Book Thief is a feast for the eyes with superbly co-ordinated choreography, making the supporting cast (the ‘Storytellers’) flow almost like a single entity, taking on multiple roles as the story unfolds. There is a rather unusual narrator, played by Obioma Ugoala, who sews the whole together, appearing like some sort of cosmic conductor at times and singing with a quite magnificent voice. At the centre, though are the characters of Liesel and her friend Rudy. The director made the decision that these roles should be played by child actors, but it is a big ask for them to carry so much of the narrative and emotional weight. Nevertheless, it’s a decision that pays off – at press night they were played by Tilly-Raye Bayer and Thommy Bailey Vine and their onstage chemistry and child-like outlook worked really well. Rudy, the fastest runner around, is obsessed with Jesse Owens, the black runner who humiliated Hitler in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and can see no reason not to champion Owens in public. Liesel grows and matures as she is beset by tragedy after tragedy; her books and the power of words – good, positive words that rain down – sustaining her.

Mina Anwar and Jack Lord bring us the Hubermanns, and they too are entirely believable as a long-standing couple. There’s bickering aplenty but underneath there’s a partnership made of steel. Daniel Krikler is Max. He is as baffled as anyone as to why he has to leave his (Gentile) best friend and run into hiding. He finds a purpose in educating Liesel, even as he has difficult decisions to make.

The whole cast are talented dancers and singers, switching styles seamlessly. A balletic boxing match, for example, is a joy to watch. It’s a feast for the eyes and the ears, but mostly for the mind as the power of words – for good and ill – is spelt out, toying with our emotions as we experience Liesel’s journey. And, of course, our emotions are further manipulated through the powerful songs and bleak grey set.

This is a terrific piece of theatre as we have come to expect from new shows at the Curve. Catch it if you possibly can.

Runs until 14 October 2023