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Jan Karski: Witness to the Holocaust with David Strathairn, Derek Goldman and Amy E. Schwartz

Actor David Strathairn, nominated for an Academy Award for his role as journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, has dedicated himself to portraying great men. He’s currently performing as Jan Karski, the World War II hero who risked his life to carry his harrowing eye-witness report about the Holocaust from war-torn Poland to the Allied Nations and, ultimately, the White House, only to be ignored and disbelieved. Strathairn is in conversation with playwright Derek Goldman and Moment’s books and opinion editor Amy E. Schwartz about the play, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski and why this courageous man’s story may be more relevant than ever.

This program is part of the Moment Theater Festival and part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.

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Oh I Remember the Black Birch playwright Velina Hasu Houston
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Oh, I Remember the Black Birch: Play Reading and Talkback with Velina Hasu Houston & Keren M. Goldberg

This program is part of the 2021 Moment Theater Festival.

In the Autumn of 1941, 18-year-old Brina Berman, a Jewish Polish young woman from Warsaw, finds herself alone in Kobe, Japan, having traveled halfway across the world following the Nazi invasion of her hometown and murder of her family. Thus unfolds a little-known true story of what happened to Jewish refugees when Japanese Diplomat Chiune Sugihara was stationed in Kovno, Lithuania and wrote transit visas to Japan, saving thousands of Jews who were running from the advancing German army. Seen through her many struggles in Kobe, Brina is surprised to find an established Jewish community and nurturing Japanese residents and organizations working to support the arriving Jewish refugees.

The cast, director, and playwright of Oh, I Remember the Black Birch discuss their new original play about a young Jewish woman struggling in a new country and finding community during the Holocaust. Playwright Velina Hasu Houston is also in conversation with producer and dramaturg Keren M. Goldberg about the journey of Oh, I Remember the Black Birch which is inspired by true events.

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Hitler’s Tasters: Play Reading and Talkback with Michelle Kholos Brooks and Gavriel D. Rosenfeld

The cast, director, and playwright of Hitler’s Tasters share excerpts from their award-winning play, a dark comedy about a group of young women who have the opportunity to die for their country every day as Adolf Hitler’s food tasters. Playwright Michelle Kholos Brooks is also in conversation with Holocaust historian and author Gavriel D. Rosenfeld about the journey of Hitler’s Tasters, which is inspired by true events, as well the broader resonance of the play in our current culture. This program is part of the 2021 Moment Theater Festival.

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Broadway Songs about the Jewish Experience with Michael Lavine

Broadway Performance Coach and Music Director Michael Lavine shares Jewish themed songs that are unfamiliar to many, including songs that were cut from the original Fiddler on the Roof. Actress Barbara Minkus who starred in the Broadway show The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N and the television show Love American Style, makes a special guest appearance.

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