Lemkin's House to Hold Talkbacks in Sept. and Oct.

A series of talkbacks will follow select performances of Catherine Filloux's award-winning play Lemkin's House.  Jean Randich directs the return engagement of the show, which will play through September 13-October 8 at the McGinn-Cazale Theatre (2162 Broadway)
 
Presented by Body Politic Theater and Vital Theatre Company, the show's official press opening is set for September 17.

Talkback participants will include former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger; Human Rights activist Dr. William Korey; film-maker Kavery Kaul (The Long Way from Home); and others.
 
Lemkin's House is billed as "a thought-provoking drama about the horrors of genocide," according to press notes.  "Winner of the 2006 Peace Writing Award from the OMNI Center for Peace, the play centers on Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who invented the word "genocide" and dedicated his life to having it declared an international crime. In Ms. Filloux's play, Lemkin is bombarded by people bursting into his home with complaints of more recent genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. Lemkin must recognize that even his law is not enough to change the world. He weighs his ethical accomplishments against his guilt for deserting his own doomed family, ultimately seeking not only justice but also forgiveness. In Lemkin's House it is the living who haunt the dead."
 
Lemkin's House had its U.S. premiere at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in February, 2006, opening to strong critical and audience response. John Daggett returns as Raphael Lemkin. He is joined by original cast members Christopher Edwards, Laura Flanagan, Christopher McHale, and Connie Winston. The production also reunites its original design team: Sue Rees (set design); Matthew Adelson (lighting design); Camille Assaf (costume design); Robert Murphy (sound design).
 
The talkbacks are as follows (additional talkbacks and panelists TBA):
 
Wednesday, September 13: Panel on Darfur
Former Manhattan Borough President, Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service which is currently involved in seeking justice for the Darfur genocide; John Prendergast, Senior Advisor of International Crisis Group; and Jayne E. Fleming, California Lawyer of the Year for Pro Bono Representation of Women victimized through violence.
 
Thursday, September 14: A Peaceful Tomorrow Panel: Genocide and Reconciliation
H.E Widhya Chem, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations; Jean Baptiste Ntakirutimana, Country Director of Orphans of Rwanda, Inc.; Father Michael Lapsley, Institute for Healing of Memories, South Africa; and moderator Adele Welty, Steering Committee, Peaceful Tomorrows.
 
Friday, September 15: Panel in conjunction with 9/17 "Save Darfur" Rally
Jim Fussell, Executive Director of Prevent Genocide International; and Mohamed Adam Yahya, Chairman, Damanga: Coalition for Freedom and Democracy.
 
Saturday, September 16: Women's Commission on Refugees and Children: Darfur
Megan McKenna, Senior Coordinator, Media and Communications (Education in Emergencies); Sarah Chynoweth, Program Manager in the Reproductive Health Program; and moderator Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director of Women's Commission.
 
Wednesday, September 20: Understanding the Perpetrator: Genocidal Mania -- The Psychology of Mass Hatred and Treating the Victims Gerald Martone, Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the International Rescue Committee; and Ruth Rogers, "Easing the Impact of Trauma through Integrative Medicine."
 
Thursday, September 21: What Have We Learned?
David Scheffer, Former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues; Juan E. Méndez, President, ICTJ. Special Advisor to the Secretary General (UN) on the Prevention of Genocide; Justice Richard Goldstone Chancellor, University of the Witwatersrand and Former Justice, Constitutional Court of South Africa; Dr. William A. Korey, Human Rights scholar and activist; Roger S. Clark, Board of Governors Professor, Rutgers School of Law; Moderated by Dr. Yael Danieli, Co-President, International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends.
 
Sunday, September 24: Detering Future Genocides: The Importance of International Criminal Court to Raphael Lemkin's Legacy
Dr. Roy S. Lee, Special Senior Fellow, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, and former Executive Secretary to the International Criminal Court Conference; John Washburn, Convenor, American NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC); Richard Nsanzabaganwa. Outreach Liasion for Africa, Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).
 
Wednesday, September 27: Professor Sheri Rosenberg  and Dr. Jack Saul
Professor Sheri Rosenberg, Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic and Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies, Cardozo School of Law; Dr. Jack Saul, Director, International Trauma Studies Program, Columbia University; Moderated by Kenneth Jacobson, Senior Associate National Director, Anti-Defamation League.
 
Thursday, September 28: Religious Perspectives on Genocide
Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner, Director, Center for Multifaith Education, Auburn Theological Seminary; Other panelists TBA.
 
Friday, September 29: For the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity: A United Nations Emergency Peace Service
Panelists: TBA; moderated by Waverly de Bruijn; Coordinator, Global Action to Prevent War; Sponsoring Organizations: Global Action to Prevent War, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, World Federalist Movement.
 
Saturday, September 30: Audience Conversation with Dr. Yael Danieli and Lemkin's House artists
Dr. Yael Danieli, Co-President, International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and Their Friends, the cast and creators of Lemkin's House
 
Sunday, October 1: Hidden Genocide in Uganda
Presentation by Daniella Boston, co-founder and executive director of uNight: for the Children of Uganda; Panelists: TBA.
 
Wednesday, October 4: Violence or Empowerment
Arn Chorn-Pond and John Burt, Cambodian Living Arts; Kavery Kaul, Filmmaker and Producer, The Long Way From Home; and Michele Tayler, Women Against Violence Everywhere.
 
Saturday,October 7: The Armenian Genocide
Professor Henry Theriault, Professor of Philosophy at Worcester State College, Armenian National Committee.
 
Filloux's other plays include The Beauty Inside, Eyes of the Heart, Silence of God and Mary and Myra.

The show runs: Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 7pm. Talkbacks directly follow select performances. Tickets are $25 (group discounts are available). For reservations, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.theatermania.com.