Humble Materials to Present Jess Noel's Adaptation Of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Erich M. Remarque's novel ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT was first published in 1928 and immediately became a huge success. It's billed as "the greatest war novel of all times" and was one of the first books banned in Nazi Germany. Hitler hated the novel's honest portrayal of the horrors of war, and he desperately wanted to destroy the book as he attempted to rally the German people for a second war.

Jessica Noel was re-reading the novel over winter break, appreciating the highly-developed narrator Paul who sees the world through a poet's eyes, when she realized the work went into the public domain on January 1st, 2024. "It felt like a sign that I should adapt it. As I was reading the book, I saw so clearly a staged version with movement and music. And women."

There aren't any women in Remarque's original book -not really. Mothers are briefly reflected upon, representing home and all that has been lost. And the reader even meets a few mothers and wives throughout the text. But these women are hidden in the shadows of the prose, as if Remarque doesn't want to focus on home because it's too painful.

Noel says "I imagined a version of this story that is told through the lens of the mothers and wives who were left behind. And suddenly the story came alive in a whole new way for me."

Humble Materials not only introduces new, fully-realized, female characters into their All Quiet on the Western Front, but actually puts them in the trenches with Paul, Kropp, Muller and Kat. "What does it look like if Paul's mother is with him the whole time; in the trenches, on leave in a poppy field, in the barracks? And what is the experience like for the audience?" Noel asks. "If men at the top want to play war games, we should meet ALL the people who pay the price. We should look into the eyes of the women whose lives are destroyed because of deep, unending loss."

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Erich M. Remarque, adapted by Jessica Noel.

Co-directed by Monica Flory and Jessica Noel.

Production Design by Kat Caro.

Original music by Jessica Noel, John Noel, Matt Subits and Justin Tyler.

Choreography and featured performances by Carolyn Breyer, Amy Henderson, Jessica Noel, Yasmin Roberti, and Lisa Vaccarelli.

September 19, 20, 21 at 8PM at Philly PACK (233 Federal Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147)

Tickets on sale August 1st at https://www.phillypack.org/pack-events/

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