National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Presents THE WALL

On Tuesday, July 30, The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) will present a staged reading of The Wall. This staged reading of the Broadway play with songs by Millard Lampell is based on the novel by John Hersey. It is the inspiring story of forty men and women who escape the Warsaw Ghetto, facing the Nazi persecution and their own struggles against dehumanizing cruelty. The Wall (Lampell) is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company. The play will be performed at 7 PM at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, NYC. Tickets are free, RSVP at www.nytf.org.

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene was a 2019 Drama Desk Award winner. The presentation of The Wall is part of NYTF's season of "Spiritual Resistance," which features artistic and theatrical works that explore themes of struggle against oppression. The programming provides artistic expression concurrent with the exhibition Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. being presented at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

The Wall is the story of the Warsaw ghetto from November 1939 to May 1943, from the perspective of the fictional Jewish writer Noach Levinson, a self-appointed archivist. He chronicles his day-to-day experiences, and eventually builds relationships with those suffering around him. Directed by Suzanne Toren, this staged reading will bring Lampell's play to life, through dynamic characters and the devastating choices they are forced to make.

As the ghetto becomes more confined, and living conditions become significantly more unsanitary, the Jewish community fights to preserve their hope and dignity, even in the face of the Nazi persecution. The Wall is not just about tragedy, but a raw determination to survive, even in the most harrowing of circumstances.

The Wall will be performed in English.

"What makes this play so gripping is its treatment of Nazi persecution on the level of cities and nations, but also on the level of the individual human being," said NYTF Artistic Director Zalmen Mlotek. "The Wall shows that spiritual resistance, the theme of our current season, can and must take place on an individual and a national level."

Suzanne Toren has appeared on and off Broadway, and in regional theatres throughout the country, in works by well-known playwrights (from Shakespeare and Moliere to Arthur Miller and Neil Simon), as well as new ones. Broadway: Goodbye, Fidel (starring Jane Alexander). Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse (Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities), Philadelphia Drama Guild (A View from the Bridge), Pennsylvania Stage Company (Brighton Beach Memoirs), Syracuse Stage (The Seagull). Off-Broadway: Westside Arts (A Shayna Maidel, From Door to Door); Stock: Fiddler on the Roof (Yenta); TV: Law and Order. Suzanne also often performs in Yiddish----in both readings and full productions, most recently as Linda Loman in the critically acclaimed Yiddish Death of a Salesman. In addition, she is a multi-award-winning narrator of around 1000 audio books, for all the major publishers. She just received a "Golden Voice" award from Audiofile Magazine, for "career achievements and invaluable contributions to the world of audiobooks."

On August 13, The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene will present a staged reading of Der Nes in Geto (The Miracle of the Warsaw Ghetto), the play by H. Leivick, remarkably written just 18 months after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It is an historic dramatic account of the brave resistance of a small group of Jews who kept an implacable enemy at bay for 30 days, told through one family and their neighbors. Der Nes in Geto will be performed in Yiddish with English translation supertitles.

For tickets to The Wall, and other performances in NYTF's season of "Spiritual Resistance," visit NYTF.org or call 212-213-2120 Ext. 200. For group sales and membership call 212-213-2120 Ext. 204.

Now celebrating its 105th season, the Drama Desk Award-winning National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF) is the longest consecutively producing theatre in the US and the world's oldest continuously operating Yiddish theatre company. NYTF is in residence at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Under the artistic direction of Zalmen Mlotek, NYTF is dedicated to creating a living legacy through the arts, connecting generations and bridging communities. NYTF aims to bring history to life by reviving and restoring lost and forgotten work, commissioning new work, and adapting pre-existing work for the 21st Century. Serving a diverse audience comprised of performing arts patrons, cultural enthusiasts, Yiddish-language aficionados and the general public, the company presents plays, musicals, concerts, lectures, interactive educational workshops and community-building activities in English and Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles accompanying performances. NYTF provides access to a century-old cultural legacy and inspires the imaginations of the next generation to contribute to this valuable body of work.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is presenting the most comprehensive exhibition about Auschwitz ever seen in North America, Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. until January 3, 2020. (Tickets are available now at auschwitz.nyc.) The exhibition features more than 700 original objects and photographs from over 20 international institutions, including rare artifacts. As visitors walk through the 20 thematic galleries, they will see the development of Nazi ideology and the transformation of Auschwitz from an ordinary Polish town known as O?wi?cim to the most significant Nazi site of the Holocaust-at which ca. 1 million Jews, and tens of thousands of others, were murdered. This exhibition was produced in partnership with the international exhibition firm Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland.

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