Choosing optimism: Eddie Jaku’s story comes to the Sydney Opera House
The extraordinary life and outlook of Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku will be brought to the Sydney Opera House stage in May 2026 with the Australian premiere of The Happiest Man on Earth, a one-man play starring and produced by Anton Berezin.
In an interview with JWire, Berezin said the one-man play represents a conscious shift in how Holocaust stories are told on stage. Written by Mark St Germain, the play is adapted from Jaku’s international bestselling memoir, The Happiest Man on Earth, and traces Jaku’s journey from a Jewish childhood in Germany through the horrors of Nazi persecution to a life shaped by gratitude, optimism and moral clarity.
“This is still an epic and harrowing story,” Berezin told JWire. “But it’s not just about what happened to Eddie. It’s about what he chose to do with his life afterwards. At every point where he had a choice, he chose optimism. That’s what this play honours.”
Presented by Monstrous Theatre, Neil Gooding Productions and Shalom Collective, the production will play at the Sydney Opera House from 11 to 17 May 2026, following acclaimed seasons and strong reviews in North America and the United Kingdom. Berezin stars as Jaku and is directed by Therèsa Borg.
Born Abraham Jakubowicz in Leipzig in 1920, Eddie Jaku’s life was irrevocably altered on Kristallnacht in November 1938, when he was brutally beaten, arrested and imprisoned for being Jewish.
During the Second World War, he survived Buchenwald and Auschwitz, endured a death march, escaped, and was eventually rescued by Allied soldiers in 1945. After the war he rebuilt his life in Sydney, where he became one of Australia’s most recognised Holocaust witnesses until his death in 2021.
“The Nazis took everything from him,” Berezin said. “His family, his friends, his country. But they didn’t take his spirit. Eddie went on to live with joy, generosity and purpose, and that’s the story I feel a deep responsibility to tell.”
The play is structured as Jaku’s first public address about his Holocaust experiences, delivered late in life at the request of his sons. From that moment, he speaks directly to the audience, who become participants rather than distant observers. Berezin portrays Jaku as well as other figures who populate his memories, shifting between characters while maintaining a continuous relationship with the audience.
Anton Berezin
“This is very intimate theatre,” Berezin said. “It’s just me on stage. No spectacle, no re-enactments. The power comes from the words and from the connection with the audience. Eddie is talking to you.”
Berezin said the work deliberately avoids graphic depiction, relying instead on restraint and emotional precision. The production is recommended for audiences aged twelve and over, with dedicated school performances planned in consultation with the Sydney Jewish Museum.
His connection to the material is also personal. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents who later arrived in Australia as refugees, Berezin grew up surrounded by survivors who rarely spoke about what they endured.
“My grandmother never talked about her experience,” he said. “That silence is something many families recognise. Eddie made a different choice. He chose to speak, and that took courage.”
Eddie Jaku’s eldest son, Michael, told JWire the Sydney Opera House season carried particular significance for the family and for Australian audiences.
“This is the place where it makes the most sense,” Michael Jaku said. “It’s where the book has been read by more people than anywhere else, and where people didn’t just read about my father; they met him.”
Michael said that the memoir has sold more than 400,000 hardback copies in Australia alone and remains one of the country’s highest-selling memoirs. He said that enduring connection explains why the stage adaptation feels timely.
“This story never faded,” he said. “School groups know who he was. Young people know his message. This play gives them a way to hear his voice now that he’s no longer here to tell it himself.”
Berezin said that responsibility weighs heavily but positively. “I’m not trying to impersonate Eddie,” he said. “I want to be truthful to his manner and his values. I feel a duty to his family and to audiences who knew him.”
Michael Jaku believes his father would have embraced the production wholeheartedly. “He would have loved it,” he said. “He loved being heard, and he believed his story still mattered.”
Rabbi Alon Meltzer of Shalom Collective said the production belonged on Australia’s most prominent stage, describing Eddie Jaku as a local hero and a towering presence in Australian Jewish life.
He said the play had always been intended for a major national audience, but its message now carried greater weight. Learning about the Holocaust and about Jaku’s decision to rise above trauma and live with hope was a lesson Australians needed to hear, particularly after the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi.
“This was always going to be a needed piece of theatre on Australia’s grandest stage,” Meltzer said. “Eddie was a local hero, a giant of a personality. The importance of learning about the Holocaust and of rising above trauma to aspire to hope for a better world is a message the world has always needed. But it matters even more now. Today more than ever, all Australians should witness this story.”
Berezin said there was never any question of delaying or softening the work. “If the intention of hate is to push Jews back into the shadows, it has failed,” he said. “We’re not backing down. We’re telling our stories clearly and confidently.”
For Berezin, the play ultimately asks one central question. “After everything that has happened,” he said, “how do we live? Eddie’s answer was simple. We choose kindness. We choose hope. We choose humanity.”
Performances of The Happiest Man on Earth will be in The Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House.
Tickets for are now on sale at https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/theatre/happiest-man-earth
