WHEN
Holocaust Theater Production (HTP) features annual Remembrance Day Play Readings (RR) and performances of Holocaust plays, scenes, monologues and verbatim testimony selected by participants from the Holocaust Theater Catalog. They are held in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27th, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Kristallnacht November 9th & 10th. Organizations are also welcome to participate on other date(s) that are both feasible and beneficial to their collective constituencies and participants.
HOW
Remembrance Readings do not require lengthy rehearsals and expensive production values. They can be done in concert or staged reading formats, in a variety of settings by diverse participants of all ages. They have involved theaters, artists, libraries, Holocaust educators, schools, universities, places of worship, JCCs, memorial museums and the general public. Remembrance Readings have been done by very experienced actors to those with limited or no formal theater training.
We suggest these readings be followed by a panel discussion. These conversations are meant to provide a deeper understanding of the play content, context, themes and contemporary relevance.
2024 ReLaunch Remembrance Readings: The Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) bi-annual conference was held in Miami Florida, January, 2023. More than 100 national leaders in the field of Holocaust awareness and education convened. Presenters included Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Executive Director, Teresa Eyring and Susan Myers, President of AHO. Both publicly reaffirmed their commitment to National Jewish Theater Foundation (NJTF) Holocaust International Initiative (HTII) Remembrance Readings (RR). As a result of this support NJTF HTII will lead three landmark collaborative programs aimed at younger audiences, families and new constituents. 1)Creates for the first time, a formal relationship between Professional Theater Companies and Holocaust Museums. 2) Incentivize University Theater Departments to work jointly with Judaic Studies, Religious and History programs education departments and onsite or off campus youth organizations. 3) Create with leadership of Jewish Community Centers of North America (JCCA), strategies to train staffs in Remembrance Readings techniques and content.
2024 Remembrance Readings
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Monday, May 06, 2024 at 07:00 PM
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York , NYRemember the Women Institute
7:00 PM on Monday, May 6 2024
Beit Midrash of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
Women, Theater, and the Holocaust, an evening of dramatic readings by professional actors, will be presented by Remember the Women Institute
This annual Yom HaShoah event features four readings that dramatize various aspects of women’s experiences during the Holocaust. They portray how women suffered and survived the horrors of the Nazi regime. Excerpts from Annulla, written and performed by Broadway veteran Emily Mann, are based on the true story of a Jewish woman who passed as a non-Jew in Nazi Germany. English Lessons is the premiere of a short play by Cynthia L. Cooper, inspired by a memoir by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s sister Gemma LaGuardia Gluck, held as a political prisoner in Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp. Excerpts from And the Rat Laughed, a novel by Nava Semel, deal with the sexual abuse of a hidden child in Poland. The reading from Letters to Sala by Arlene Hutton, adapted from the book Sala's Gift by Ann Kirschner, is from the true account of a young girl's survival in Nazi labor camps.
Following these dramatic presentations, there will be a talkback with the playwrights, as well as a reception.
We thank the generous sponsors of this project, Patti Askwith Kenner and the Five Millers Family Foundation.
We thank our partners, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, National Jewish Theater Foundation, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, and Jewish Theatre Circle. Our event is in cooperation with the annual National Jewish Theater Foundation- Holocaust Theater International Initiative Remembrance Readings.
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Thursday, August 22, 2024 at 05:30 PM
St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in St. Louis, MOThe Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum
August 22, 2024 at 5:30pm
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum will be partnering to do a reading of BAD JEWS by Joshua Harmon. Immediately following will be the talkback. It will be a discussion to reflect on the piece - what are some key takeaways the audience got from the show, how they see themselves in the characters, what it means for objects to be imbued with cultural and familial significance and what it means to be a "good Jew."
The actors will be invited to participate in the talkback, along with some additional community members, rabbi's, etc.
VENUE: St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum
36 Millstone Campus Dr, St. Louis, MO 63146