In 2019, Susan Stein brought her one woman show Etty to Main St. We organized a small group of our folks to attend her performance at Off The Wall Theater (now renamed as Carnegie Stage). And we were pleased that Susan came to shul on the Shabbos during her stay here. If you don’t have plans for this weekend, you will want to know that Susan is back for one weekend only. Performances are tonight, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.
Etty is the fascinating story of a fairly unknown Jewish Dutch woman named Etty Hillesum. When the Germans invaded the Netherlands during WWII, they started gathering up Jews to be sent to Auschwitz, Etty included. All of the Amsterdam Jews were sent to an intermediate camp called Westerbork. Etty was assigned duties as a clerk keeping track of those coming and going. This delayed her deportation to Auschwitz, but eventually she would be murdered like most all the others. Etty Hillesum would have disappeared into oblivion except that she kept a diary. And it provides a window into the life of a 20-something Jewish woman in Amsterdam before and during the Holocaust. It is from all of Etty’s notes that Susan Stein crafted her play. Because the script is taken from diaries, the script is written in the first person. Susan speaks as, and becomes, Etty during the performance. . They even look similar. Could be some strange metaphysics going on there. Regardless, Susan’s writing and acting bring the character to life.
This is definitely worth your time. You can see my comments from 2019 here. You can get tickets here.
Be well, and Good Shabbos.