New York during the Second World War: the Jewish boy Alan likes best to play rounders with his friends or to let fly his model airplane in his free time. But then, he is expected to care for the new girl in his house called Naomi who fled with her mother from the Nazis in France. There, Naomi had to watch helplessly how her father was beaten up to death by the Gestapo. Since that time, she is in shock. Even in her new home country she talks to nobody, sits in the stairway and compulsively rips paper into shreds.

At first, Alan does not want to visit Naomi regularly. His friends call her "crazy Ida" and Alan is afraid of his reputation in case he is seen with this ‘insane girl’. However, he faces his new task – although reluctantly. Some day, he finds his old ventriloquist’s dummy ‘Charly’ and takes it with him to Naomi. And surprisingly, after a while, Naomi takes her own puppet and lets it speak with ‘Charly‘. During the following weeks, Naomi gradually opens up. Meanwhile, Alan has quite a lot of fun visiting her. But how would his best friend Shaun react if he found out that Alan is friends with Naomi? When Naomi is supposed to go to school again, Alan is going to accompany her, no matter what the others say. But on the way to school, a row starts between Alan and another boy and Naomi is overtaken by her terrible past again…

About the production
‘Alan and Naomi‘ is, on the one hand, a story about the Second World War and about anti-Semitism. On the other hand, the play mostly deals with friendship and mutual trust. And it is about growing-up by taking responsibility for ones friends. The play ‘Alan and Naomi’ is based on the novel "Alan and Naomi" written by Myron Levoy which was published in 1977. The novel was awarded with several prizes in Germany, it received the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis, the Silberne Griffel, the Katholische Kinderbuchpreis und the ZDF-Leserattenpreis. Even today, "Alan and Naomi" is read in schools when the topic of National Socialism is dealt with. It is also very popular due to its literary quality.

Moritz Seibert stages ‘Alan and Naomi‘ at JTB in the version of Rudolf Herfurtner for viewers from 12 years and older. The roles of children are played by members of the childrens‘ensemble.

About the author
Myron Levoy was born in New York in 1930. His father was a Jewish emigrant from Hannover, his mother came from Hungary. He studied engineering and worked many years as a scientist in the field of astronautics. After having had success with poems, plays and short stories for children, he fully concentrated on writing and has made himself a name with his books for young people especially. Many of his stories were also published in American school books. Main topics of his books are finding ones identity, the problems of growing-up and the fight against prejudices and racism. Levoy is an active member of the American peace movement and lives with his wife and his two children in New Jersey.