SHAKER MIDDLE SCHOOL FALL PLAY 2023 AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD BY MICHAEL SLADE MUSIC BY DAVID LAWRENCE, THE ORIGINAL LYRICS “TO WE SHALL LEAD” BY FAYE GREENBERG OCTOBER 28 at 7:00 PM OCTOBER 29 at 2:00 PM Shaker Middle School Auditorium Produced by special arrangement with Playscipts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com)
Cast Erika Kosek Miroslav Weiss Eva Hellerova Jana Hellerova Alena Lederova Pavel Hoffman Gabriella Winterova Martin Lowy Helen Munch Katarina Buehl Maja Durham Anna Hayes Annika Jameson Hannah Lauritsen Martina Ioannou Adina Gómez-Pérez Ruth Steiner Lela Weiner Xavier Maltz Sarah Smyth
Delilah Busta-Peck Alex Owens Eden Bracey Giuliana Del Re Alexandra Carrier Charlie Hudson Claire Niess Killian McCandlish Daphne Munch Clara Buehl-Reichard Zianne Durham Avery Hayes Annika Hudson Carolyn Lauritsen Brigid Ioannou Priscila Gómez-Pérez Lauren Steiner Lela Cantrell Xavier Davis McKenzie Smith
And A Child Shall Lead By Michael Slade Act 1 1942 - 1945 Terezin Concentration Camp, Czechoslovakia 10 Minute Intermission Act II Six Months Later Lullaby Vedem (“We Shall Lead”)
Music by David Lawrence Music by David Lawrence Lyrics by Faye Greenberg Author’s Note
Thirty miles outside of Prague lies a town called Terezin. It was built in 1790 as a fortress and troop garrison. The stone ramparts and Empire-style buildings still stand, giving little evidence of the atrocities that took place in Terezin during World War II. After occupying Czechoslovakia, the Germans turned Terezin into a concentration camp. Terezin was not a death camp like Auschwitz, though more than 35,000 people died there. Instead, Terezin was a holding place for prisoners who were ultimately shipped on to extermination in the East. More than 160,000 people passed through Terezin between November 1941 and May 1945. Every room, attic and cellar became living quarters in what the Nazis called, “The Jewish Ghetto.” Terezin prisoners included most of Czechoslovakia’s Jewish artists, writers, musicians, and political activists - and more than 15,000 Children. Adult prisoners set up schools for the children, and encouraged them to express themselves artistically. The children secretly created hundreds of journals, poems, stories, and drawings. They also issued several underground newspapers. Fewer than 100 Children who were sent to Terezin survived the war. And a Child Shall Lead contains poems and stories written by some of the young prisoners. It is the result of interviews with survivors and from research in archives and museums collections in the Czech Republic. The play was conceived to be performed by a multi-racial, multi-ethnic cast, as a reminder of the political atrocities children have fallen, and continue to fall, victim to throughout the world.
Directors Notes Dear parents, friends, extended families and theatre lovers, Thank you so much for coming today to watch these amazing young actors. This play, “And A Child Shall Lead” is a demanding and emotional journey and every one of the actors on stage stepped up to meet this challenge. Last August, when Principal Flood and I sat down to look at play choices, we never imagined how the chaos in the world would impact the relevance of the play. The play is based on writings from the children of Terezin, that were recovered at the liberation of the camp. We focused our acting and our point of view on two things, hope and the conviction that young people ( these actors, our teens, children and grandchildren) are smart, compassionate, innovative and will lead us into a better future. Included in the program is some writings done by our actors. Some speak through their on-stage character; others speak for themselves and the world as they see it. Read their thoughts, ponder their words and please, above all listen to them. They are our future, and they are absolutely amazing. Enjoy, Mrs. Bebe Katz
Acknowledgments Shaker Heights Schools Superintendent Shaker Heights City School Board of Education SHMS Interim Principal SHMS Assistant Principals Director Producer Sound, Lighting, and Set Design Violin Music
Dr. David Glasner Thomas Flood Yvette McClaine Patricia Rashid Bebe Weinberg Katz Suzanna Adkins Chuck Tisdale Navea Jackson James Faieta
All Families of our Performers, we couldn’t do it without your support. Thank you!