"This story made me understand that the officer, who was only 22 years old, was the king of life and death. He could kill or spare a life for nothing. So, in a way, he behaves like a god," says Sobol, adding that Kittel was also the one who offered the Jewish people an empty warehouse to use as a theater and asked them to put on shows to entertain him.

"You cannot believe that people under those circumstances could create this beautiful music. The function of art, or the theater in the ghetto, was as a means of spiritual resistance. You can take a life, but you cannot suppress its spirit," the director says.

Sobol, who was born in Tel Mond, Israel, started his career in theater in 1971 and has directed more than 50 plays. His father's family migrated from Poland in 1934 to escape from the Nazis.

Before Ghetto, Sobol had another award-winning play Village staged in China.

That play was based on the story of a boy named Yossi, who lives in a small village and witnesses the fears, love, hopes and dreams of people against the backdrop of World War II.

The play was first staged at Beijing's Capital Theater in 2015 after being invited by Beijing People's Art Theater.

In November 2016, the play returned to China for a tour of four cities－Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Speaking of the response in China to his work, Sobol says: "I love the attention of the Chinese audiences. For Ghetto, I don't want to rush it. I will spend time with my Chinese partners, like actors, script translators and so on, to discuss the play before we actually put it on the stage."

The play's producer Wang Keran says that he was introduced to the script of Ghetto by French artist Anais Martane, who is Jewish.

"Then, after talking to Sobol, I realized that what I understood about the script was totally wrong. I thought it was about facing death, but later I realized that it's about how to live," says Wang.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn