Through The Leaves Of The Green Tree

Etty Hillesum, a remarkable Jewish woman, became an insightful, profound and inspirational voice during the desperate circumstances of Nazi occupied Netherlands. Determined to face the inner landscape of her own troubled mind, she also refused to escape an outer landscape dominated by oppression.

Through The Leaves of The Green Tree explores Etty’s journey… her remarkable seeking out of wholeness, through the help of the charismatic Jungian therapist Julius Spier… her heroic determination to seek a unique way through the darkness... her process of letting go of her chaotic mind… her experience and witness of life in Westerbork detention camp from where she was later deported to meet her death in Auschwitz in 1943. Etty was only 29 years old when she died.

The play brings Etty’s diaries and experiences alive and includes music and visual imagery. The play explores deep human themes and raises questions such as: Is it possible to heal one’s own mind? Do we run from or face oppression and violence? Can the journey into silence lead to the discovery of the deeper self?