COLLABORATION and TAKING SIDES, two critically acclaimed, subtly linked plays written by award-winning playwright Ronald Harwood that explore the fine line between collaboration and betrayal during the Second World War.

TAKING SIDES, first seen in 1995 deals with an investigation into the great conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, who remained conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic during the Third Reich. Furtwangler, played by Michael Pennington, was prized by Hitler and became the cultural jewel in his crown. After the war he became the target for vigorous interrogation by the crude, apparently uncultured Major Steve Arnold, who had witnessed the horrors of Belsen.

Michael Pennington also plays composer Richard Strauss in Harwood's new play COLLABORATION. The play opens in 1931 in a spirit of optimism as Strauss and writer Stefan Zweig embark on an invigorating artistic partnership. However, Zweig is a Jew and the Nazis are on the march.