Rochester Children's Theatre (RCT) will present two public performances of James Still's powerful award-winning play, And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, on Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m. at the Nazareth College Arts Center. RCT will also present five school performances for area middle and high-school students.
The live theatre/multi-media experience includes videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss, along with live actors who recreate scenes from the two survivors' lives during World War II. Ed was Anne Frank's first boyfriend, and barely escaped the Nazis before going into hiding for more than two years. Eva and Anne were the same age, and lived in the same Amsterdam apartment building. The two friends' families went into hiding on the same day, and both were betrayed. On Eva's 15th birthday, her family was arrested by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. Eva and her mother survived, and her mother eventually married Otto Frank, Anne's father.
The blend of testimony and performance in And Then They Came for Me is extremely effective, and puts a human face on what might otherwise be just a chapter in history books. Adding to the impact will be Eva Schloss herself, who will take questions after each public performance. This production is recommended for young people in grades 6 through 12, and their families.
Producing And Then They Came for Me is especially important to RCT Artistic Director Deborah Haber, whose parents were Holocaust survivors.
"The fact that all of the survivors are getting older makes it especially critical to keep this important history lesson alive for the generations to come," explains Haber.
Stark Contrasts: Prague & Terezin, an exhibition by Rochester attorney and photographer Louis Ryen, will occupy the arts center lobby during the show's run.
Immediately following the public performance and talkback on Sunday, March 19, Ms. Schloss will be the guest of honor at a special reception given by RCT and Nazareth College Arts Center. Tickets to the reception will help underwrite the production costs of this important educational message of remembrance. Major community underwriters for And Then They Came for Me include the Zachor Fund and the Simon and Josephine Braitman Family Supporting Foundation of The Foundation for the Jewish Community (of the Jewish Community Federation of Greater Rochester), and the Ames-Amzalak Memorial Trust.
And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank
Nazareth College Arts Center (4245 East Avenue)
Saturday, March 18 at 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m., followed by special reception honoring Eva Schloss**
Tickets are $10, available by calling the Nazareth College Arts Center Box Office at 585-389-2170.
Discounts are available for groups of ten or more.
**Production Patron tickets are $25 per person, and include both performance and special reception. Production Sponsor tickets are $50 per person and include performance, special reception, and Ms. Schloss's personally-autographed book, Eva's Story. To RSVP by March 8, please call: 389-2180, or e-mail: bfoster9@naz.edu.
