A Message from Arnold Mittelman After a career in not-for-profit and commercial theater spanning more than 40 years I was honored in 2007 to found the National Jewish Theater / Foundation and in 2010 to assume leadership of its Holocaust Theater International...
The Revisionist
Author(s): Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg’s autobiographical play about David, a young American sci-fi writer, visiting Maria, an older cousin in Poland. The idea for the play came about while Eisenberg was visiting his own cousin in Poland, having made a promise to his 100-year-old aunt before leaving the U.S. that he would visit the town where she had grown up. Eisenberg's character, David, is suffering from writer’s block and hopes the change of scenery will help him to complete his book. When he arrives in Poland, he wants to be left alone, but his ageing cousin is desperate to connect with her distant American family. As their relationship develops, Maria, a Holocaust survivor, reveals details of a guilty secret she has kept from her post-war past.
Format: Autobiographical play
Cast Size:2M/1F
Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Character breakdown:
David, American writer.
Maria, David’s 75-year-old second cousin.
Polish taxi driver
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
World premiere at the Cherry Lane Theatre, New York, staged by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, February–April 2015, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave.
World premiere at the Cherry Lane Theatre, New York, staged by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, February–April 2015, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave.
Original Source Material: Eisenberg’s own experiences visiting a cousin in Poland.
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
On September 30, 2024, French playwright, Mr. Jean Claude Grumberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by NJTF HTII President, Arnold Mittelman with Dominique Trimbur, PhD-Manager for the History of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, Teaching of the Holocaust of Fondation Pour La Memoir de la Shoah Project.
Many Questions and a Few Answers
by Robert Skloot 2022 NJTF HTII Lifetime Achievement Award AHO Winter Conference, Miami, FL I’d like to begin my remarks by asking the question that all of us have been asked often: “Why do you do the work you do?” There are, of course, many answers, but I’d imagine...