Time: 5:00pm–7:00pm
Whippany, NJ, November 1, 2011 — Hailed as a “masterpiece” by nytheatre.com and a Time Out New York’s “best bet,” AFTER ANNE FRANK, a touching and funny personal memoir about life, identity, theater, family, and forgiveness, will be performed at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 13, 2011.
Presented by Artistic New Directions and written and performed by Carol Lempert, star of the award-winning That Dorothy Parker, the show will take place at the Dr. Morris Epstein-Bernard Stein Auditorium of Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, 110 South Orange Avenue, Livingston, N.J. The audience is invited to a talk-back with writer-performer Lempert and director Jane Goldman following the performance.
After Anne Frank kicks off and benefits Shoah Stories on Stage, a collaboration of the Holocaust Council of MetroWest and the Jewish Plays Project. The Project, founded by executive director David Winitsky, is a development project for new Jewish theater housed at the Cooperman JCC in West Orange and the 14th Street JCC. The Holocaust Council is part of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ in Whippany.
Over the course of her career, Lempert has performed in all three versions of The Diary of Anne Frank, playing Anne in the 1955 Goodrich and Hackett version; Margot in the “forbidden” 1952 Meyer Levin version; and Anne’s mother in the Wendy Kesselman adaptation of the play. AFTER ANNE FRANK interweaves these theater stories with the oral history of Lempert’s uncle, a Holocaust survivor.
Shoah Stories on Stage seeks to discover and develop new plays and musicals that reflect a 21st Century understanding of the Holocaust experience and history. The project is seeking submissions of never-performed plays and/or musicals on Holocaust themes. The plays, which can be full-length or one act, must be written by members of the MetroWest Jewish community or writers with a connection to the community. These works may feature the stories of survivors from the local area. Two plays will be selected annually: one for adult audiences, the other for students.
All performances will be directed and performed by professional artists. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Funding is made possible by a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest NJ and the Darivoff Family Foundation.
Ticket prices for After Anne Frank are $36 (General Admission); $72 (Sponsor); and $100 (Patron). A reception will be held for sponsors and patrons. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ujcnj.org/holocaust.
Further information about After Anne Frank is available by calling (973) 929-3067 or by visiting www.ujcnj.org/holocaust.
