Songs and sketches written in Terezín/Theresienstadt, from Lisa Peschel's anthology Performing Captivity, Performing Escape and other sources.
Full of satire, bitter humor, and hope, these pieces demonstrate how art became a vital survival technique for the inmates
JANUARY SHOWS MARCH SHOWS
at a brownstone at 153 W. 88th at Torn Page at 435 W 22nd Street
Sat Jan 28 at 7pm, Tue Jan 31 at 7:30pm Sat March 18 at 8pm, Sun March 19 at 5pm
Special guest: Tony Torn
FEBRUARY SHOW APRIL SHOW
at New Yiddish Rep at 315 W 39th St Suite 611 at Bohemian National Hal at 321 E 73rd St
Sat Feb 18 at 8pm Sun April 16 at 5pm
Special guest: David Mandelbaum
Conceived by Edward Einhorn
Developed and directed by Edward Einhorn and Jenny Lee Mitchell
Original work written by Armin Berg, Robert Dauber, Sergei Dreznin, Grigory Flidlider, Hans Hofer, Vitezslav “Pidla” Horpatzky, Jaroslav Jezek, Frantisek Kowanitz, Josepf Lustig, Feliz Porges, Frida Rosenthal, Erwin Schulhoff, Leo Strauss, Myra Strauss-Gruhenberg, Karel Svenk, and Ilse Weber
With: Craig Anderson, Seth Gilman, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, and Katarina Vizina
Musical direction and piano accompaniment: Maria Dessena.
Part of Remembrance Readings program of National Jewish Theater Foundation—Holocaust Theater International Initiative
Running time: one hour
Terezin was the final stop for more than 30,000 Central and Western European Jews, most from Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany who perished within its walls. For thousands more it was only a way station on the journey to the slave-labor and death camps. Yet it was also a place where many prisoners became intensely aware of the meaning and power or art. During those years in Terezin/Theresienstadt, a vigorous cultural life emerged. Not all prisoners participated in the cultural life and only a small fraction of the works produced there has survived.
"Although honoring a somber event, the atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant and uplifting...Cabaret in Captivity is a call to action to use hope not as a means of passive daydreaming, but a powerful act of resistance. It has been said that humor equals truth plus distance. Perhaps humor was the most palatable, effective way of sharing the unbelievable creativity, will, and resistance that came from the 'Chosen' who 'had no choice.' " - Amy Oestreicher, Broadway World
Previously performed at Pangea, The Center for Jewish History, the Bohemian National Hall, York Theatre, the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC, and The William Goodenough House in London, England.