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 Tall Boy
Author(s): Simon Bent
Adapted by Simon Bent from Kay Boyle’s short story “The Lost,” the 70-minute, one-person drama follows “Missus” as she attempts to repatriate displaced and unaccompanied children in the wake of World War II. She’s an American serving in Germany, working in a repurposed mansion in the shadow of what was a death camp.
The duty of Missus is to find out where they’re from and who their families are. Or were.
The Tall Boy is a moving tale told by the American matron of an orphanage for “unaccompanied children” in occupied Germany following World War II. Examining the fragility and resilience of children in war, she tells the story of three boys: a 15-year-old Czech, a 14-year-old Pole and a 12-year-old Italian. The boys have become mascots to the GIs and are desperate to get to America to be reunited with their US Army buddies but only one boy has a soldier willing to adopt him.
Format: One Woman Play
Cast Size:1W
Running Time: 70 minutes in 1 act
Character breakdown:
Missus
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
Stage 773. Chicago, IL 2019
Stage 773. Chicago, IL 2019
Original Source Material: Kay Boyle’s short story “The Lost”
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
Experience(s) Chronicled: Concentration and Extermination Camps | Women and the Holocaust | Other Victims of Nazi Persecution
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...