What would you risk to survive? And what would you sacrifice to have a child?

These are the questions David Miller is prompting in Boston with his French Theater Project production of “Adieu Monsieur Haffmann,” a new French play set in Paris in 1942 during Nazi occupation. Written by Jean-Philippe Daguerre, “Adieu Monsieur Haffmann” confronts audiences with impossible moral choices, dark humor, and moments of startling humanity—all inside the intimate setting of a jewelry shop turned hiding place.

David and I chatted about the show, what it’s been like to create the French Theater Project, and what he hopes it will bring to audiences. Here’s a snippet of our conversation:

Where did you discover this play? It won France’s prestigious Molière Award for Best Play, and was adapted into a feature film. What’s so special about it?

I discovered the play on a trip to Paris in 2019. I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I was watching it next to my 12-year-old daughter, who had only two years of middle school French. At the end, I asked if she understood, and she said, “I got enough, Dad.” She caught both the language and the content. It’s told with delicacy and even humor. It’s a Holocaust story, but it’s not all dark and dire. The show strikes a special balance—between desperation and resilience, between tragedy and satire—that has made it award-winning. 

Tell us about the show.

The story begins with Joseph Haffmann, a Jewish jeweler facing the tightening noose of anti-Jewish laws in Nazi France. With his livelihood under boycott and his very life in danger, he turns to his longtime employee Pierre with an unthinkable request: hide him in the shop’s basement until the war ends.

Pierre and his wife, Isabelle, weigh the risks. Harboring a Jew could mean death for their family. What, they ask themselves, could possibly compensate for such peril?

Pierre’s answer is shocking. He and Isabelle cannot conceive. If Haffmann will give Isabelle the child they desperately want, they will grant him refuge.

What follows is a story that spirals from this deal—a collision of intimacy, desperation, and survival. Haffmann remains in the basement, while Pierre becomes ever more successful in the gentile community, even catering to Nazi officers. His growing bravado leads him to invite the German ambassador for dinner—while Haffmann is still hiding below.

The dinner becomes the play’s electric centerpiece. Haffmann, tired of invisibility, insists on joining. “I want to look my persecutor in the face and prove he cannot tell a Jew from a Frenchman,” he declares. The entire second act unfolds at this perilous dinner table, where the truth could erupt at any moment.

Daguerre conceived the play not just as a Holocaust story, but as a reflection on human desperation. He had observed friends struggling with infertility and the lengths they would go to for a child. By placing that longing inside the context of Nazi-occupied France, he created a double-layered bargain: survival on one side, parenthood on the other.

It’s really about humanity and inhumanity. By inhumanity, I mean the way people are turned into tools—means to someone else’s end. Both Haffmann and Pierre become objectified, stripped of their identities. And yet, in moments of art and memory, they rediscover their humanity.

What inspired you to create the French Theater Project?

My journey began during the pandemic. Stuck at home, I was reading tons of French plays that I would have sent to me. Eventually when it was possible, we traveled to the Avignon Festival—the world’s largest theater festival after Edinburgh. The enthusiasm for theater in France is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the U.S. I thought, why don’t we have something like this in Boston? That spark became the French Theater Project. Since 2023, we have staged a series of French plays, selling out black-box performances and growing into the Calderwood Pavilion space.

This play is timely in so many ways. Why should it matter to us today?

“Adieu Monsieur Haffmann” is more than a historical drama. It’s a mirror for today. The play’s central bargains—survival under oppression, the desperate quest for family—transcend their 1942 setting. Its questions are timeless: How far would you go for what you most desire? And at what point does survival itself become dehumanizing? It’s not just a Holocaust story. It’s about choices, morality, and what makes us human. And it’s told with humor, artistry, and suspense. You’ll be on the edge of your seat.

This October, Boston has the rare chance to experience France’s award-winning theater in its full force. “Adieu Monsieur Haffmann” will unsettle, provoke, and ultimately affirm the humanity that art alone can restore. And don’t worry if you don’t speak French: There are English captions throughout. The show plays Oct. 24-26 at the Calderwood Pavillion. Learn more and reserve your seats at frenchtheaterproject.com.

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE