Overview

Stories of the Holocaust: Art for Healing and Renewal, Volume I: Onstage and in Concert brings together international artists, scholars, survivors, and educators to explore how theatre, music, and dance illuminate the human spirit in the aftermath of atrocity. Edited by Karen Berman, Ph.D., and Gail Humphries, Ph.D., this first of two volumes demonstrates how the performing arts serve as a profound force for remembrance, empathy, and transformation. Through personal narratives, critical essays, and creative works, contributors examine the role of performance in bearing witness to the Holocaust-transforming trauma into art and despair into resilience. From plays that revive voices silenced by genocide, to symphonic and dance works that embody defiance and hope, each chapter underscores the enduring capacity of the arts to heal and to educate. Featuring contributions from leading voices in theatre, music, dance, psychology, and Holocaust studies, this volume asks urgent questions about representation, ethics, and artistic responsibility in retelling Holocaust stories. At its heart, Stories of the Holocaust: Art for Healing and Renewal, Volume I: Onstage and in Concert is a call to action: to remember, to resist hate, and to use creative expression as a means of moral courage. Whether read by scholars, students, practitioners, or general readers, this collection affirms that through art, the legacy of the Holocaust continues to teach empathy, justice, and the imperative to stand against oppression-Never Again. Stories of the Holocaust offers a rich constellation of artistic responses to the Holocaust. Editors Berman and Humphries have assembled a diverse and dynamic team of scholars and artists who tackle this weightiest of subjects with clarity, confidence, and urgency."" -HENRY BIAL, PhD, author of Acting Jewish, Chair, Department of Theatre & Dance, University of Kansas, Past President, Association for Theatre in Higher Education ""These extensive two volumes provide the educated reader with a powerful collective space for both healing and resistance to genocide and hate."" -DR. SHOULAMIT MILCH-REICH, Israeli Psychologist and Trauma Therapist In 2018, I was asked to direct a new production of Fiddler on the Roof...I was able to achieve a final sequence that caused palpable distress and horror in our audience...We were witness to inhumanity, to inexplicable prejudice, to what would become . . . the Holocaust."" -SIR TREVOR NUNN, British Theatre Director and former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre

Full Product Details

9781969031045

Table of Contents

Reviews

""A group of scholars, writers, and artists remember the Holocaust in this anthology. A well-crafted work that highlights the value of the arts in remembering the past."" Kirkus Reviews ""Stories of the Holocaust offers a rich constellation of artistic responses to the Holocaust. Editors Berman and Humphries have assembled a diverse and dynamic team of scholars and artists who tackle this weightiest of subjects with clarity, confidence, and urgency. Each story adds to our understanding of how art can and must speak in the shadow of the unspeakable. Taken as a whole, these responses are critical to the dual injunction: Never forget. Never again."" Dr. Henry Bial, author of the book Acting Jewish, Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance at University of Kansas, and Past President, Association for Theatre in Higher Education ""Drs. Karen Berman and Gail Humphries take us on a profound journey through the poignant narratives and visual representations of the Holocaust, challenging us to envision a future shaped by compassion and justice while utilizing creativity and art as pathways to remembrance and healing. This book is not just a testament to the endurance of the human spirit; it is a clarion call for using our collective imagination to foster a world that is ever more peaceful and just."" Thomas Schumacher, Chief Creative Officer, Disney Theatrical Group ""In 2018, I was asked to direct a new production of Fiddler on the Roof, the famous Broadway musical. I was able to achieve a final sequence that caused palpable distress and horror in our audience. We were able to convince our audience that a hundred people were being savagely removed. We were witness to inhumanity, to inexplicable prejudice, to what would become ... the Holocaust."" Sir Trevor Nunn, British Theatre Director and former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre ""As antisemitism rises, refusing to forget the Holocaust and its horrors is a moral imperative - recognized by this very valuable work. Powerfully and movingly, the voices and stories of survivors summon us to action against hate, bigotry and bias."" United States Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut ""Through critical and creative storytelling in the arts - that speaks the language of the wounded soul - these extensive two volumes provide the educated reader with a powerful collective space for both healing and resistance to genocide and hate. This must-read book serves as an inspiring contemporary manifestation of a humanitarian lighthouse advocating for upstanding against hate and genocide while exemplifying the call for 'Tikun Olam' and the Jewish prayer for the soul."" Dr. Shoulamit Milch-Reich, Israeli Psychologist and Trauma Therapist ""Clearly, we haven't done enough. If over a quarter of our youth believe the Holocaust is a myth, we need to both admit our shortcomings, and reconfigure our approach. The Holocaust needs to no longer be stories from the grave, nor talking heads who preach, but rather to be imbued with life and creativity. Our answer may lie in these pages. Stories of the Holocaust may just very well be our new playbook."" Rabbi Shmuel Lynn, Executive Director, Olami Manhattan, Theatrical Writer and Producer

Author Information

Co‐editor Karen Berman, PhD, is Dean Emerita, College of Fellows of the American Theatre; Past Chair and Artistic Director, Department of Theatre and Dance, Georgia College; and director of over 150 productions. She is Co‐Founder and Artistic Director of Washington Women in Theatre, and has directed at the Smithsonian and Off‐Broadway.

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