Now On Tour 2024!
By Wendy Kout
Directed by Jesse Bernstein
Presented in Association With:
Photo by Brad Gellman
Photo by Charlotte Horetsky, Strath Haven
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Help support our goal of bringing Survivors to as many schools as possible!
Theatre Ariel is thrilled and honored to be touring Survivors by Wendy Kout to Philadelphia-area schools. This one-act play tells the true story of the experiences of ten Jewish children and teenagers in Europe during the Holocaust. It is a tale of resilience and persistence in the face of bigotry, xenophobia and violence. Even as it recounts the past, the stories of these survivors resonates in the present. Survivors reminds students – and us – that hatred is never OK, that we must never take our freedom for granted, and that we must fight to maintain our dignity.
Photo by Brad Gellman
Commissioned, developed and produced by CenterStage Theatre of the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester,
Ralph Meranto Artistic Director
Presented by special arrangement with CentreStage Theatre at the Louis Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester.
Photo by Charlotte Horetsky, Strath Haven
What are people saying about Survivors?
The impact the play had on these students was palpable at every show.
Here are a few of the responses from the students and teachers:
“It was inspiring.”
“You're telling the story of those who can't anymore, as well as helping other people see the hope in their situation and ask for the help they deserve.”
"I am glad that you came to our school and presented that beautiful play. I've learned a lot more than I would have if I was just reading about it in class.”
“Just absolutely mind-blowing.”
“May it be Holocaust or the invasion of Ukraine, each generation faces problems. The past may have the key to the future. Why learn from the past? Why learn from the Holocaust? Simple. Because history repeats itself.”
“Amazing. Thank you so much.”
Wendy Kout
[PLAYWRIGHT] I write and produce in various media with a sense of humor, heart, heartbreak, and hope. I write about the present and the past, sometimes weaving them and sometimes weaving comedy and drama. I identify as a cisgender woman (she/her/hers), and as a political progressive (we/us/ours). I don’t preach or profess to have answers. I ask questions. I’m Jewish. It’s genetic. And I protest. Personally and professionally, I fight and write for social, economic, inclusive and global justice for all.
SURVIVORS
by WENDY KOUT
Directed by Jesse Bernstein
Presented in association with
Gratz College
Stage Manager: Celia HuttonJohns
CAST
Miryam Coppersmith
Joshua S. Gold
Jeff Pfeiffer
Rachel Maselek
Lillian Moffatt
Michael Stahler
Jesse Bernstein (DIRECTOR): Jesse Bernstein is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Speech and has over 30 years’ experience working in film, TV and theatre. He has performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival (alongside actors such as Mandy Patinkin and Denzel Washington), the Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Arden Theatre Company, Ventura Theatre Company and the Walnut Street Theatre Company. In 1999, he originated the role of Reuven in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok’s stage adaptation of The Chosen. His TV credits include appearances on Law & Order, Veronica Mars and Days of Our Lives. Directing credits include Shipwrecked!, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Gifts of the Magi, and several children’s musicals for the Walnut Street Theatre; The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) (Cardinal Stage); Heathers: The Musical (Penn Players), Member of the Wedding (Rutgers-Camden) and more. Writing credits include several outreach plays and the solo shows Ethics of the Fathers (aka The Gangster and Grandpa) and The Scribe. Jesse wrote and directed the short film Allergy (official selection, Audience Awards and LA Comedy Shorts Fest) and wrote, produced, and starred in the short alongside Alison Brie and Liza Weil in the short film Us One Night (official selection: Williamstown Film Festival, NewFilmmakers LA). He has taught for theatres and organizations in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia as well as at Northwestern University College, the Cherub program, and University of the Arts. Jesse is a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA and serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theatres.
Celia HuttonJohns (Stage Manager) is a Philly and New York based stage manager and is thrilled to be working with Theatre Ariel on such an impactful piece! Beginning in high school, she refined her love for theatre by stage managing musicals and slowly transitioned into plays in college. Since graduating, she’s bounced around the area, loving her time on all her projects. Credits include The Complete Deaths (Curio Theatre Company), SPEECH (Lightning Rod Special), The Taming! and Pericles: Prince of Tyre (Shakespeare in Clark Park) and Barbecue and Wolves Eat Elk (Purchase Repertory Theatre).
Jeff Pfeiffer is a stage and screen actor, born and raised in the Philadelphia Area, and is excited to be working with Theatre Ariel for the first time! Recent theatre credits include CB in Dog Sees God (Dramatists Unite! Collective). Acting BFA: The University of the Arts. Member of SAG-AFTRA.
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Joshua S. Gold is a recent graduate from Penn State University with a BFA in Acting and a minor in Medieval Studies. Recent productions/projects include Curtains (Villanova Theatre), Without a Cue’s Golden Girls murder mystery, and Once (City Theatre Company.) He also worked with Storybook Musical Theatre as their season swing and with Actors Without Boundaries as a teaching Artist. Upcoming projects include performing as John Hinckley Jr. in City Theatre Company’s Assassins and working with Family Stages (Puss in Boots tour). He is excited to work with Theatre Ariel to tell these incredibly important and powerful stories.
Lillian Moffatt (she/her) has enjoyed working with Theatre Ariel for the first time in Survivors. Recent credits include Jane in Miss Bennet with Stagecrafters. Lillian studied Theater at Bryn Mawr College, where she appeared as Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: essentialized, Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries, and worked with Shakespeare Performance Troupe. She is also a teaching artist for young actors with Quintessence Theatre Group and a standardized patient. She is eternally grateful for the support from her spouse and pets.
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Miryam Coppersmith (she/they) is a Philadelphia-based performance artist, writer, and teacher. She creates with movement, speech, and sound coming from her body, drawing on training in Contact Improvisation, Six Viewpoints, acting, Black American social dance, and other influences. She is also a skilled Yiddish dance leader, having trained under Steve Weintraub. Miryam's solo dance/theater piece Mirele Lernt Zich Yiddish premiered in Cannonball Festival this September, was hailed a "must-see performance" by The Dance Journal, and recently opened SoloFest at the Bridge Street Theater in Catskill, NY. miryamcoppersmith.com
Rachel Maselek is an actor and theater artist located in the South Jersey area, joining Theater Ariel for the first time! She recently graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with degrees in Musical Theater and Public Relations. Favorite Credits: Into the Woods (Narrator), The Children’s Hour (Martha), Bright Star (Florence), First Date (Lauren/Grandma Ida), A Little Night Music (Petra), Beauty and the Beast (Silly Girl), Steel Magnolias (Truvy). She would like to thank everyone involved in “Survivors” for this wonderful educational experience.
Michael A. Stahler is thrilled to return to Theatre Ariel and tell the stories of Survivors once again! A Philadelphia-based actor of stage and screen, his recent theatre credits include Overwinter (Azuka Theatre), The Puzzle (Hedgerow Theatre), and Ship (Azuka Theatre), winner of the American Theatre Critics’ Association’s New Play Award. You can see him next as a guest performer in The Worst Cafe in the World with Tiny Dynamite and as Sean in Inis Nua Theatre Company’s Playboy of the Western World. Grateful to tell Jewish stories as a proud Jewish performer. See more at www.michaelstahler.com