OSU to Premier Emotional Holocaust Play at New CHS Theater
CORVALLIS -- Oregon State University will perform the American premier of a moving play written by a survivor of the infamous World War II concentration camp, Auschwitz.
Called "Just One More Dance," the script by Ernst Levy has been performed in Scotland and Great Britain, but never before on American soil, said Scott Palmer, an OSU faculty member who will direct the play.
The university has made arrangements for a special series of daytime performances for every high school and eighth-grade student in Corvallis to attend. Four evening performances will be open to the public.
"It is a very powerful play," said Palmer. "Ernst Levy is a Czech Jew who was sent to Auschwitz and on to a labor camp for a year before he was liberated by the Allies. More than half of his family was killed in the camps, though, including his older brother, who was forced to dig his own grave before he was shot."
OSU will present the play, "Just One More Dance," for the public Tuesday through Friday, April 18-21, at the new Corvallis High School Theater (836 N.W. 11th St. in Corvallis). Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. and tickets are priced at $10 for general admission and $5 for seniors and students.
The performances will help kick off OSU's annual Holocaust Memorial Week, which begins April 24 on campus.
Palmer said the play has a fast, simple and non-traditional structure that features 21 short scenes and a total of 30 characters, portrayed by six actors.
"It is a visually charged, deeply emotional experience," Palmer said. "The script open with an introduction to Ernst Levy's home and family life at the beginning of World War II, then depicts how he and his family are herded onto a train for a destination unknown. It follows his experiences in the camps and concludes powerfully when Ernst himself addresses the audience in a recorded statement made in 2001 at his home in Glasgow."
Palmer, who saw one of the original performances of "Just One More Dance" in Scotland, called it "one of the most powerful plays I have ever seen."
"It's an enormous challenge for the actors and a very thought-provoking experience for the audience," he said. "The CHS auditorium is absolutely awesome – one of the best theaters in the entire state, and I have seen most of them. It is a real gem."
The OSU cast includes Matthew Deboodt, an OSU undergraduate student from Prineville; Robert Hirsch, a Corvallis actor and writer; Eric Nepom, an OSU graduate student in marine biology from West Linn; Paul Pistey, an OSU graduate in theater arts from Tualatin; Leonora Rianda, an OSU staff member in the Department of Philosophy; and Marza Warsinske, a student from Philomath High School.
Palmer is directing the play, assisted by Joey Nicola, an undergraduate student in business and theater arts.
The cast and crew will perform two free shows during the day on Wednesday and Thursday, April 19-20, at the CHS theater for as many as 2,400 local high school students. An additional 600 Corvallis eighth-graders will see the play Friday morning.
"It is certainly an ambitious undertaking, but one that we feel is important for both the University Theatre program and for local high school and middle school students," Palmer said. "This kind of outreach gives them an opportunity to experience a powerful stage performance, and learn something about history and culture at the same time."
“Just One More Danceâ€
April 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st 2006
7:30pm (box office open at 6:30pm)
Corvallis High School Theatre
836 NW 11th St.
Corvallis, Oregon
$10 general admission / $5 seniors and students
(group booking discounts available)
email JOMD@comcast.net or phone 541 737 2784 to reserve tickets
CCT Presents Blithe Spirit Nov 4-13
CORVALLIS --
Corvallis Community Theatre presents:
BLITHE SPIRIT By
Noel CowardWhen: November 4, 5, 6*, 10**, 11, 12, 13* 2005*matinee 2:30 p.m. performance; regular show time 8:00 p.m., **Bargain Thursday - all seats $8
Where: Majestic Theatre, Corvallis, OregonEnjoy the "spirited" British farce that won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play in 1942!
Directed by
Scott PalmerWhen author and socialite Charles and his second wife Ruth hold a seance at a dinner party, the wildly eccentric medium Madame Arcati inadvertently calls forth the ghost of Charles' first wife.and she wants Charles back! The result is bedlam, with hilarious consequences! Noel Coward's classic masterpiece of spirited hi-jinks and ghostly goings-on, Blithe Spirit was one of the longest running comedies in the history of British theatre and is still one of his best-loved works. With Coward's trademark witty wordplay and stylish repartee combined with moments of slapstick comedy, this brilliant play has a winning combination that has rarely been bettered.
About the Director: SCOTT PALMERScott is the founder and former artistic director of the Glasgow Repertory Company, which hosts Scotland's critically acclaimed Summer Shakespeare Festival. During his tenure at GRC, Scott directed numerous Shakespeare plays and adaptations including Lear, Twelfth Night, Tempest, As You Like It, and Henry V. A recent transplant to Oregon, Scott directed The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) for Salem Repertory Theatre, and is currently a member of the faculty at Oregon State University where he directed Infinite Variety: A Showcase of Shakespeare's Women Real and Imagined this past spring. Future shows include Just One More Dance for the OSU Holocaust Memorial Week Committee in April and Ben Jonson's The Silent Woman for OSU in May.
CAST:Edith -
BERNADETTE FEYERHERMRuth Condemine -
MARZA WARSINSKECharles Condemine -
PAUL PISTEYDr. Bradman -
PAUL AHRENSMrs. Bradman -
LINDA SPAINMadame Arcati -
VRENELI FARBERElvira Condemine -
KIMBERLY WEAR
For more information about this and other shows, visit
Corvallis Community Theatre
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