NOTHING SUNG AND NOTHING SPOKEN

Christa Lewis's affecting performance illuminates the types of social and political resistance taken up by teenagers in Nazi Germany during WWII. Lewis's smooth transitions between English and German accents immerse listeners in the world of underground jazz clubs that queer Berlin teen Charlie Klaus and her friends, Geli, Minna, and Renate, discover. What begins as a reprieve from the constant refrain of "Children, Kitchen, Church" at state-sanctioned youth groups evolves into an increasing understanding of the growing dangers for their Jewish friends and neighbors. Lewis underscores the emotional nuances of once strong friendships tested by war and illuminates uncomfortable truths about the price of ignorance. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2023]