Dame Maggie Smith to Return to the Theater in One-Woman Play

Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) is returning to the theater after a 12-year absence to star in a one-woman show! Dame Smith will play Brunhilde Pomsel, who, from 1942 to 1945, was the secretary to the notorious Nazi Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for the regime.

A German Life by Christopher Hampton is based on both Pomsel’s life and the documentary testimony she gave before she died in 2017 at the age of 106. Prior to working for Goebbels, Pomsel worked for other employers as a struggling secretary, including for a Jewish insurance broker and the German Broadcasting Corporation.

Speaking in the documentary, also named A German Life, Pomsel maintained that she “knew nothing” about the true nature of the Nazi regime despite working in the heart of the action.

I know no one ever believes us nowadays – everyone thinks we knew everything. We knew nothing, it was all kept well secret.

Dame Smith was last onstage in a 2007 production of Edward Albee’s The Lady From Dubuque at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. She has previously won a Tony for her work on the 1990 production of Lettice and Lovage and the Theatre Icon Award at the 2013 Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

The play will run at the Bridge Theatre in London and will be directed by Jonathan Kent. Previews will begin on April 6, with the show closing after a five-week run on May 11.

Tickets are open now to the general public, but with such a short run available, be sure to be quick to make sure that you don’t miss out!