|
|
Comedy
Short, 30-40 minutes
5 females, 6 males (4-11 actors possible: 2-7 females, 2-7 males)
$45.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Job applicants at Banff Enterprises will do anything to claw their way up the corporate ladder. In a fast-paced series of hilarious interviews, the new recruits try every trick in the book -- from bribery, nepotism, and the Old Boy Network to blackmail, seduction, and mind control.
|  |
|
 |
| "An almost perfect high school one-act... It's got a large, flexible cast, it allows actors to go a little wild and it's hilarious." |
| --Stephen Gregg, author of This is a Test |
|
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
4 females, 4 males (8-30 actors possible: 4-15 females, 4-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
This is the heroic and true story of children coming of age in Terezin, the "Jewish city" established by the Nazis near Prague as a way station before the death camps. In the face of unspeakable horror, these children use their determination and creativity to build lives filled with hope and beauty -- playing, studying, making art, and writing an underground newspaper -- all at the peril of being executed. Their actual poems and stories are woven into a fast-paced drama, evoking the universality of children caught in the insanity of war.
|  |
|
|
| "[And a Child Shall Lead] not only sheds light on this dark camp, it's also relevant to modern conflicts around the world." |
| --Christopher Stollar, Bend Bulletin (Oregon) |
|
|
Irena's Vow by Dan Gordon
based on the life of Irena Gut Opdyke |
 
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 95-100 minutes
4 females, 6 males (10-23 actors possible: 4-16 females, 6-17 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable true story of Irena Gut Opdyke and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy. 19-year-old Irena Gut is promoted to housekeeper in the home of a highly respected Nazi officer when she finds out that the Jewish ghetto is about to be liquidated. Determined to help twelve Jewish workers, she decides to shelter them in the safest place she can think of: the basement of the German commandant's house. Over the next two years, Irena uses her wit, humor, and courage to hide her friends until the end of the German occupation, concealing them in the midst of countless Nazi parties, a blackmail scheme, and even the birth of a child. Her story is one of the most inspiring of our time.
|  |
|
|
| "The emotions this stage biography stirs in theatergoers are genuine, a testament to the bravery and tenacity of the woman whose real-life story is being told. Irena's Vow serves as a compelling, heartfelt reminder of her incredible courage." |
| --Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press |
|
|
|
|
Drama for young audiences
Full-length, 100-120 minutes
13 females, 15 males (20-28 actors possible: 9-13 females, 11-15 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
World War Two. The Nazi Occupation of Poland. Dr. Janusz Korczak -- writer, educator, physician, and passionate advocate for children -- tries to keep the 200 Jewish boys and girls of his famed Warsaw orphanage alive and hopeful in the face of unbelievable deprivation and terror. In the horrible conditions of the Jewish Ghetto, Korczak does everything within his power to make sure his children are fed and clothed, cared for and safe. But there are rumors of a change in the ghetto. Tales of deportations to concentration camps are spreading. And Korczak knows time may be running out. Against the rules of the ghetto, he permits his orphans to stage a magical play -- The Post Office -- to teach them about the one adult subject he has not yet broached with them: death. As the play is rehearsed, the rumors become reality, and Korczak must decide who can be saved and who must go on the final journey together.
|  |
|
|
| "Although the subject of Korczak is dark and painful, Hatcher's play is packed with the humor and vigor of children living in an enclosed world that feels separated from the darkness lapping around it...Korczak's Children is a timely and significant play for children old enough to grapple with the consequences of war and deep-seated prejudice." |
| --Elizabeth Weir, Talkin' Broadway |
|
|
|
|
Drama
Short, 30-40 minutes
3 females, 2 males (5-9 actors possible: 3-5 females, 2-4 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Three young people growing up in Nazi Germany struggle to claim their identities and transition into adulthood in this collage play about ethics, family, and self-perception. Marian's father wants to hide a Jewish family, but Marian just wants to fit in. Ernst joins the Hitler Youth but has trouble fully embracing the lifestyle. Rebecca endures discrimination from teachers and students for her Jewish heritage. No answers come easily as these three characters experience ordinary growing pains in the face of extraordinary historical tragedy.
|  |
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 107-115 minutes
6 females, 4 males (8-14 actors possible: 5-7 females, 3-7 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
An adaptation of Sabina Zimering's memoir, Hiding in the Open tells the true story of two Jewish sisters from Poland who assume false Catholic identities and work in a Nazi hotel during World War II. Living in constant fear of having their identities revealed, the sisters bravely face danger and the challenges of growing up while keeping their heritage a secret. Thrilling and heart-warming, this story of survival and teenage courage examines the bonds of family and human kindness in the face of great atrocities.
|  |
|
|
| "A disturbing, true tale of double lives...demonstrates the power of truth-telling and the art that shapes it." |
| --Lisa Brock, Star Tribune (Minnesota) |
|
|
|
|
Comedy/Drama
Full-length, 85-95 minutes
3 females, 12 males (12-23 actors possible: 2-3 females, 10-20 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Based on Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel, Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes "unstuck in time" after he is abducted by aliens. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all the phases of his life. Concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden, this satirical and horrifying anti-war story carries a unique poignancy -- and humor.
|  |
|
|
| "The show moved me so much I couldn't speak for ten minutes after." |
| --The Chicago Reader |
|
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 65-75 minutes
7 females, 3 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Young people want to connect with one another in every era, but in the wake of tragedies like 9/11, that impulse is especially strong. Taking place in 1963 and 2001, this powerful drama shows how youth deal with the aftermath of terror: from making chocolate truffles, to painting murals, to exploring other religions. Their solutions may seem naive, but their hope makes everything possible.
|  |
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
4 females, 3 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Seven lives intersect in this compelling drama inspired by the true stories of rescuers and hidden children in Nazi-occupied Holland. The voices of the oppressed, the oppressors, and the quiet heroes come together to share their bold stories of defiance in this eloquent play celebrating hope and humanity -- and the hidden courage inside us all.
|  |
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
3 females, 2 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When Ruth, a young doctor, skips her grandmother Leah's funeral, she ignites three generations of love and secrets. Her boyfriend walks out, her mother pays a devastating surprise visit, and Leah's harrowing childhood journey -- a family legend -- intertwines with Ruth's own. An ordinary train ride mysteriously takes Ruth through her Russian Jewish family's untold history, opening her to a fuller understanding of her mother, her grandmother, and herself.
|  |
|
|
| "Well-written and well-performed drama about family and the importance of cherishing life and connections..." |
| --Anita Gates, The New York Times |
|
|
|
|
Drama with humor
Full-length, 80-90 minutes
2 females, 3 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
In 1944, Raphael Lemkin invented the word "genocide" and spent his life fighting to have it recognized as an international crime. But when the U.S. finally signs his law -- decades after his death -- the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides erupt and torment Lemkin in the afterlife. If genocide cannot be stopped, how will Lemkin rest?
|  |
|
|
| "Ms. Filloux does not discount Lemkin's efforts, but she also makes grimly clear that good intentions mean nothing in the face of killers who revel in unrestrained savagery and have no reason to fear retaliation. Lemkin's House is rarely preachy, but it is a call to action nonetheless." |
| --Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times |
|
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 120 minutes
2 females, 4 males (6-26 actors possible: 2-6 females, 4-20 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Pro-Nazi broadcaster William Joyce (known as Lord Haw-Haw by the British) is brought to vivid life in this imaginative depiction of his career and relationships. Beginning in his Brixton Jail cell where he is being held on trial for treason after WWII, we flash back in time to follow Joyce through the churning politics of 1930s London and on to the unlikely position of broadcasting Nazi propaganda to the Allies from a radio station in Berlin. A brisk, smart, disturbing, and often humorous portrayal of a complicated man.
|  |
|
|
| "Hanging Lord Haw-Haw holds your attention and has a clean, sharp sense of the devastating inevitability of a prideful man's folly." |
| --Seattle Stranger |
|
|
|
|
Drama
Full-length, 100-120 minutes
2 females, 10 males
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When a runaway boy seeks refuge in their cafe, ten unassuming Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland find themselves selected to form a Jewish ghetto council in charge of policing their own people. Led by the morally ambiguous Doctor Trumpelman, the council revels in their newfound power until they are faced with the impossible task of handing over the names of 100 of their fellow Jews. Unable to choose and unable to disobey, the council members grapple with the assignment of sentencing their own people to death.
|  |
|
|
| "...an existential take on Holocaust atrocities that contains elements of Sartre and Beckett as well as a study of desperate human behavior you might see in a classic Agatha Christie drawing room murder mystery." |
| --Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times |
|
|
|
