A new play with live music, Gideon, shines a light on a composer whose music was nearly lost to history.
Under the direction of Sue Dunderdale, the cast features: Max Gallagher (War Horse – National Theatre, Richard III – Hull Truck/Northern Broadsides, Home Fires – ITV) as Gideon; Rebecca Scroggs (The Suicide – National Theatre, Doubt – Chichester Festival Theatre, Grace – ITV, EastEnders – BBC, Constellation – AppleTV+) as Ilona/Fran and Assistant Director; Rosie Hilal (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Palace Theatre, The Hard Problem, London Road – National Theatre, All The Light We Cannot See – Netflix) as Lisa; Alastair Michael (Silent Witness – BBC, Ridley Road – BBC Catching Comets – UK Tour) as Gustav/Jakob. The show also features the voice of JJ Welles as “The Voice”.
The production also boasts a live chamber ensemble led by The Hallé Orchestra’s Chris Emerson, which includes Tomek Pieczora, Elana Kenyon-Gewirtz, and Caroline Morris. The ensemble weaves into the action music by Gideon Klein, his contemporaries, and others which inspired him.
A haunting true story of music, memory, and survival
Set in Prague, 1938, Gideon follows the life of a young composer whose tenacity burned brightly even as the world around him collapsed. As war engulfs Europe, Gideon’s world contracts—from the concert halls of Prague to the confined walls of Terezín, a garrison town turned into a propaganda tool. Within its walls, where music is both solace and deception, prisoners struggle with an urgent question: is art an act of resistance, a place of refuge, or part of the lie that helps to oppress them?
The show aims to shed light on a dark and curious past that is often forgotten. Lead creative producers Richard Fay and Daniel Mawson have re-envisioned David Fligg’s biography of Gideon Klein, “Don’t Forget About Me” and 2016 theatrical “Gideon Klein: Portrait of a Composer” with a heartfelt original new script written by Mawson and a dynamic ensemble of 8 actors and musicians.
In a world polarised by politics, faith, and identity, where truth itself can be contested, Gideon, speaks to 2025 with an unsettling urgency. It immerses audiences in the rhythms of history, where melodies rise in defiance and fade into silence. Some create to resist, others to endure, while for some, music becomes a fragile thread between remembering and forgetting. Gideon is powerful meditation on art, identity, and survival under an increasingly brutal regime.
Gideon will premiere in Bradford from 3rd-5th April as part of Bradford 2025 City of Culture, before touring to Chester, Wilmslow, Laxton, and Manchester from 8th-12th April. Tickets available at gideonplay.co.uk.
It is a co-production between Modalways CIC, Bradford Cathedral, and Bradford Reform Synagogue, and is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
CW: This production contains references to genocide, antisemitism, death, and violence and may depict some of these elements.