The Wave

The Wave (TNT Theatre Britain) by Morton Rhue (own name Todd Strasser) adapted by Paul Stebbings and Phil Smith directed by Paul Stebbings music by John Kenny

The title of our performace is not coincidental - it has been chosen with regard of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. The company is delighted to announce that we have the first rights to produce a dramatization in English of this modern classic.

THE WAVE strikes a chord in our troubled times, exploring as it does the rise of fascism without ever sinking to polemic or delivering easy answers. The book is based on a true story: in 1969 in Palo Alta in California a history teacher Ron Jones embarked on an experiment to educate his young and rather naive students about the rise of the Nazi party. He founded a movement in the school called the Wave, with himself as unquestioned leader.

His purpose was to explain the attractions of a disciplined mass movement that bound its members together in harmony. But even as the Wave took off and spread throughout the whole school, its darker side became apparent and the experiment ended in disaster. The book and play explore why this happened and what can be learnt from this today when our own political and social certainties are being questioned just as they were in the 1930's.