Women, Theater, and the Holocaust
Annual Yom HaShoah Event
Dramatic Readings about Women, Theater, and the Holocaust:
Remember the Women Institute’s May 6, 2024 Yom HaShoah Program
Remember the Women Institute’s annual Women, Theater, and the Holocaust dramatic readings took place on May 6, 2024, at 7:00 PM, at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, Amsterdam Avenue and West 76th Street, New York, NY. The annual Yom HaShoah event featured readings about various aspects of women’s experiences during the Holocaust, dramatizing how some women suffered but survived the horrors of the Nazi regime.
The four poignant readings by professional actors all give women their place in Holocaust history:
Excerpts from Annulla, written, directed, and performed by acclaimed Broadway theater director and playwright Emily Mann, is based on the true story of a Jewish woman who passed as a non-Jew in Nazi Germany. After her stirring performance, Ms. Mann left immediately for the Dramatists Guild of America’s event, where she was presented with their Lifetime Achievement Award in Playwriting. We were honored to have her with us, especially on such a special evening, and we congratulate her.
English Lessons, the premiere of a short play by award-winning playwright Cynthia L. Cooper, is inspired by a memoir by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s sister Gemma LaGuardia Gluck, held as a Jewish political hostage in Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp. Shauna Bloom was Gemma and Jimmy Georgiades was Fiorello, directed by Janice L. Goldberg. After the readings, Shauna Bloom met Gladys Gemma McMilleon, Gemma’s granddaughter, who was in the audience.
Excerpts from And the Rat Laughed, a novel by esteemed Israeli writer and educator Nava Semel, were performed by Broadway and film actor Neva Small (Chava in the original Fiddler on the Roof film), and directed by Lisa Pelikan, award-winning actor and director. The excerpts, which deal with a grandmother recalling her sexual abuse as a hidden child in Poland, were compiled by Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel.
Excerpts from Letters to Sala by prize-winning playwright Arlene Hutton, directed by noted director Eric Nightengale, adapted from Sala’s Gift by Dr. Ann Kirschner, featured a discussion by Ann and her daughters about how best to preserve Sala’s letters that had survived her time in Nazi labor camps. The reading featured Judy Hiller as Sala, Dana Brooke as Ann, Kleo Mitrokostas as Elisabeth, and Sofia Ayral-Hutton as Caroline. Arlene Hutton read the stage directions. Author Dr. Kirchner, Sala’s daughter, was in the audience.
Following these dramatic presentations, there was a talkback with playwrights Cynthia L. Cooper and Arlene Hutton, as well as Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel and Alexis Greene, Emily Mann’s biographer. A wine and cheese reception concluded the evening.
We are grateful to Patti Askwith Kenner for providing funding for the program and were pleased that she was with us for the evening.
The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan was our primary partner for this event, and we thank Rabbi Yael Rapport, Director of the Gottesman Center for Jewish Living, for her cooperation and Matt Temkin for technical help. Our other partners were National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, National Jewish Theater Foundation, and Jewish Theatre Circle. The event was part of the annual National Jewish Theater Foundation-Holocaust Theater International Initiative Remembrance Readings.
Photographic highlights of the event, taken by Jeff French Segall:
Rabbi Yael Rapport, Director of the Gottesman Center for Jewish Living at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, welcomed the audience members.
Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel, Founding Executive Director of Remember the Women Institute, made opening remarks and introduced the program.
Emily Mann reads excerpts from her play, Annulla, explaining that she had interviewed the real Annulla Allen in London in 1974.
Shauna Bloom and Jimmy Georgiades portray Gemma LaGuardia Gluck and Fiorello LaGuardia in English Lessons.
Neva Small performs the role of the grandmother from Nava Semel’s And the Rat Laughed.
Presenting an excerpt from Arlene Hutton’s Letters to Salla are (l. to r.): Dana Brooke as Ann Kirschner, Judith Hiller as Sala Kirschner, Kleo Mitrokostas as Elisabeth Kirschner, and Sofia Ayral-Hutton as Caroline Kirschner.
The audience watching English Lessons by Cynthia L. Cooper.
During the Talk Back, (l. to r.) playwright Cynthia L. Cooper, playwright Arlene Hutton, Emily Mann’s biographer Alexis Greene, and Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel discuss the inspirations for the four readings.
Participants in the May 6 program (l. to r.): Jennie Reich Litzky, Lisa Pelikan, Neva Small, Cynthia L. Cooper, Janice L. Goldberg, Jimmy Georgiades, Shauna Bloom, Arlene Hutton, Sofia Ayral-Hutton, Kleo Mitrokostas, Judith Hiller, Rochelle G. Saidel, and Dana Brooke.
(Courtesy of Janice L. Goldberg) Actor Shauna Bloom, who portrayed Gemma LaGuardia Gluck, met Gemma’s granddaughter, Gladys Gemma McMilleon at the event. Shown are (l to r): Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel, Shauna Bloom, Gladys McMilleon, and Janice L. Goldberg.
Please see the print program here for details.
The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, National Jewish Theater Foundation, and Jewish Theatre Circle are our partners for this event, which is in cooperation with the annual National Jewish Theater Foundation-Holocaust Theater International Initiative Remembrance Readings.
