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...
Warmth
Author(s): Diana Rissetto
Sweet, innocent, well-meaning Gemma has a happy and wholesome life as a Catholic kindergarten schoolteacher, a hilarious sidekick in her cousin and roommate Jake, plenty of Jewish moms trying to set her up with their sons, and a heart of gold… even though it gets her into trouble sometimes. When she finds herself volunteering with a foundation that helps (and makes scarves for) rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, Gemma wants to do more than good deeds from overseas and arranges for Magdelone, an 88-year-old Polish woman, to stay with her for two weeks. As Gemma grows close to Magdelone and her long-lost Jewish-American grandson, Victor, she becomes obsessed with the atrocities of the past and struggles with an odd form of Christian guilt, intent on healing all the world’s problems.
Format: Full-length
Cast Size:2M/3F
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
New Jersey Playwright’s Contest, staged reading as a finalist, Grange Playhouse, Howell, NJ community run.
New Jersey Playwright’s Contest, staged reading as a finalist, Grange Playhouse, Howell, NJ community run.
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
Production Rights Holder:
Diana Rissetto: dianagracerissetto@gmail.com
Experience(s) Chronicled: Righteous Gentiles | Rescue | Hiding | Survivors and Subsequent Generations | Resistance | Women and the Holocaust | Reactions to the Holocaust | Other Victims of Nazi Persecution
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The National Jewish Theater Foundation presented its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfred Uhry. The presentation took place as part of the Lincoln Center Library event on January 27th 2025 in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
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.