Compulsion or the House Behind

FROM THE ARTISTIC AND MANAGING DIRECTORS

Dear Friends,

Stories can change the world. That’s one of the lessons of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl; by allowing millions of young readers to see a Holocaust victim so clearly and love her so dearly, the world changes. The Diary has become a story that belongs to us all. That’s the power of a great story and a great writer.

Author Meyer Levin was waiting for a story like the one of Anne Frank. In 1950, the same year The Diary appeared in French, he wrote: “From the beginning I realized I would never be able to write the story of the Jews of Europe. This tragic epic cannot be written by a stranger to the experience, for the survivors have an augmented view which we cannot attain… Someday a teller would arise from amongst themselves” (Levin: The Search, 1950).

But when The Diary did enter Levin’s hands, he became a man obsessed. He felt he needed to tell this Jewish story to an American audience and became convinced that only he knew how to do it. After trying to find Otto Frank an English-language publisher for The Diary, he then focused his prodigious energies on adapting the story into a stage play. Before long he found himself enmeshed in a series of lawsuits against Otto Frank.

Who owns a story? Who can decide how it should be transmitted, and how it must be received? That is part of what Rinne B. Groff explores in Compulsion or the House Behind, which imagines Levin as a man named Sid Silver. Why “Sid Silver?” You can read more from Groff herself on page 11 of this program. Groff’s story weaves in historical narrative with imagined conversations—just as Levin himself does in Compulsion—and the result is an imaginative and provocative meditation on Jewishness, “universality,” the State of Israel, and the nature of humanity. We hope you find it as stimulating and engaging as we do.

We’re in the midst of programming next year’s season at Theater J, and it promises to be a fascinating, beautiful, and wildly entertaining season full of music, great stories, and captivating performances. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on our website and straight to your inbox regarding season subscriptions and early bird discounts. Of course, you can always visit us at www.theaterj.org or call our ticket office at 202.777.3210 for information. We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be one of our best seasons yet.

As always, we welcome any thoughts you’d like to share about your experience at Theater J. You can reach us at adam@theaterj.org or david@theaterj.org.

Yours,

Adam Immerwahr Artistic Director

David Lloyd Olson Managing Director

THANK YOU TO OUR 2021–2022 SEASON SPONSORS

Leading Producers The Bridge Fund, The Government of the District of Columbia DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Arlene and Robert Kogod, The Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation

Sponsoring Producers Susie and Michael Gelman, The Morningstar Foundation Sari R. Hornstein National Endowment for the Arts Revada Foundation of the Logan Family Share Fund The Shubert Foundation Arthur Tracy Fund Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein

Supporting Producers The Family of H. Max & Josephine F. Ammerman and Andrew R. Ammerman Bruce A. Cohen Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch Patti and Mitchell Herman Alfred Munzer and Joel Wind Nussdorf Family Foundation Kay Richman and Daniel Kaplan Helene and Robert Schlossberg Patti and Jerry Sowalsky

THANK YOU TO OUR PRODUCTION ANGELS

Martha Winter Gross and Robert Tracy Janet Leno and Peter Harrold Jeff Menick Kathryn Veal Alan and Irene Wurtzel

This production is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

THEATER J

Adam Immerwahr Artistic Director

David Lloyd Olson Managing Director

THE TRISH VRADENBURG STAGE • AARON & CECILE GOLDMAN THEATER • MORRIS CAFRITZ CENTER FOR THE ARTS

COMPULSION OR THE HOUSE BEHIND

Written by Rinne B. Groff

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Cast (In Order of Appearance)

Puppeteer...............................................................................Matt Acheson

Puppeteer...................................................................................................Eirin Stevenson

Sid Silver.........................................................................................................Paul Morella*

Mr. Thomas, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ferris, Mr. Matzliach, Mr. Williams................Marcus Kyd*

Miss Mermin, Mrs. Silver........................................................................Kimberly Gilbert*

Artistic & Production Team Director.................................................................................Johanna Gruenhut

Puppet Design/Coaching..........................................................................Matt Acheson

Set Design.....................................................................................Nephelie Andonyadis+

Costume Design.....................................................................................Sarah Cubbage+

Lighting Design.......................................................................................Jesse W. Belsky+

Sound Design and Original Music.......................................................Sarah O'Halloran

Props Design...............................................................................................Pamela Weiner

Casting Director………....................................................................…………………Jenna Place

Dialect Coach...........................................................................................Tonya Beckman

Production Stage Manager.............................................................Anthony O. Bullock*

Assistant Stage Manager.............................................................................Allison Poms

Assistant Stage Manager/COVID-19 Safety Manager...........Genevieve Dornemann

+Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 *Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Photography, video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Matt Acheson (Puppeteer and Puppet Design/Coaching) is a puppet and theater artist who was based in Brooklyn for 20 years and now lives in Pittsburgh. He is a founder of AchesonWalsh Studios, a kinetic creation studio providing design, fabrication, direction and performance services, whose clients include Amazon Studios, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center Theater, The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf Theatre, Disney Cruise Lines, TheaterWorksUSA, and the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. Currently AchesonWalsh Studios is designing and fabricating large scale creatures for Other World, a new musical which will open this winter in Baltimore. Matt has had the pleasure of working with many exceptional artists including Basil Twist, Dan Hurlin, Mabou Mines, Lee Breuer, Paula Vogel, Chris Green, Metropolitan Opera, The Swedish Marionette Cottage, MTV, Lake Simons and Nami Yamamoto, and he directed and curated The Puppet Lab, an experimental puppet festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse for over a decade. He was the Puppetry Director for War Horse, during its run at Lincoln Center Theater and for the North American tour. Matt designed, built, and directed the marionettes for Rinne B. Groff’s Compulsion or the House Behind (original production directed by Oskar Eustis) and is thrilled to work on this production again with Johanna Gruenhut.

Eirin Stevenson (Puppeteer) Theater J debut! Eirin Stevenson is excited to return to the stage! Snapshots (Ensemble/Arts on the Horizon), Crowns (Jeannette/Creative Cauldron), The Velveteen Rabbit (Child/Adventure Theatre MTC), Forest Treás (Steph/Pointless Theatre Co.), Rite of Spring (Ensemble/Pointless Theatre Co.), Visions of Love (Ensemble/Pointless Theatre Co.), Anon(ymous) (Anon/Theatre Prometheus), Bully (Tanisha/ The Interrobang Theatre Company). Eirin is thankful for this rewarding experience. Much love to all artists.

Paul Morella (Sid Silver) has previously appeared at Theater J in Broken Glass, The Accident, Either Or, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and Sleeping Arrangements. Regional credits include leading roles at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Mosaic Theater, MetroStage, The Kennedy Center, Rep Stage, Everyman Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theater, Two River Theater, and Potomac Theatre Project.

Marcus Kyd (Mr. Thomas, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ferris, Mr. Matzliach, Mr. Williams) is delighted to return to Theater J where he was last seen in Lost in Yonkers and The Odd Couple. Acting credits include Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Round House Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Happenstance Theater, Anti-Social Music/WPAS, Nebraska Shakespeare, and MetroStage. He played guitar and sang for The Most Secret Method. Marcus is a founding company member of Taffety Punk.

Kimberly Gilbert (Miss Mermin, Mrs. Silver) Proud DC actor for over 20 years. Theater J: Sheltered, Broken Glass, Life Sucks (or The Present Ridiculous), Andy and the Shadows, The Religion Thing. Recent credits include: Spooky Action Theater: The Realistic Joneses (Pony), Olney Theatre Center: The Humans (Aimee), Taffety Punk: suicide.chat.room (Lostbooks), Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Fairview (Suze), Round House Theatre: Oslo (Marianne/Toril), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park: The Last Wide Open (Lina), Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Panties, The Partner and The Profit (Louise), Ford’s Theatre: Born Yesterday (Billie Dawn), Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Human Error (Madelyn), Folger Theatre: The Winter’s Tale (Autolycus/Emilia). She is a company member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre and Taffety Punk and is an MFA graduate of GWU’s Academy for Classical Acting.

Rinne B. Groff (Playwright) Rinne B. Groff’s plays and musicals have been produced at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Trinity Repertory Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Yale Repertory Theatre, Women’s Project Theater, PS122, and Clubbed Thumb, among others, in the United States and internationally. She also writes for TV. Rinne is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Obie Award grant. Founding member of Elevator Repair Service Theater Company. New Dramatists, Dramatist Guild. Head of Playwriting in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

Johanna Gruenhut (Director) currently serves as Theater J’s Associate Artistic Director. Her work has been seen at Theater J, Studio Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, and The Public Theater. She has taught at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Johns Hopkins University, and the University of California, San Diego. Originally from New York, she now lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband and their three kids.

Nephelie Andonyadis (Set Design) is a scenic and costume designer, based mostly in Washington DC. Designs this season include The Most Beautiful Home…Maybe (digital version and IRL premiere) at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, and The Rivers Don’t Know at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Recent projects, in the “before” times include Seize the King (Alliance Theatre), Topdog/Underdog (WSC Avant Bard, 2020 Helen Hayes Award for scenic design), Occupant (Theater J), As You Like It & The Odyssey (Public Works/Seattle Rep), The Tempest (Pittsburgh Public Theater), The Children (Studio Theatre), Lost in the Stars (SITI Company), Pilgrims Musa and Sheri… (Mosaic Theater) and The Juliet Letters (UrbanArias). With Cornerstone Theater Company, where she is an ensemble member, Nephelie has worked in collaboration with communities across California and beyond on A Jordan Downs Illumination, The Cardinal, Magic Fruit, Jason in Eureka, Los Illegals, Café Vida among others. Regionally, her designs have been seen at South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Center Theatre Group, and many others. Nephelie has been a professor at the University of Michigan and the University of Redlands. BS from Cornell University’s School of Architecture. MFA from Yale School of Drama. NEA/TCG Design Fellowship. MS in Aging and Health from Georgetown University.

Sarah Cubbage (Costume Design) Previously at Theater J: Actually with director Johanna Gruenhut. Other DC credits include: A Chorus Line at Signature Theatre; The Heal, coproduced with The Getty Villa, and Spring Awakening at Round House Theatre; Kings, The Wolves, and The Hard Problem at Studio Theatre; King John at Folger Theatre; Labour of Love and The Crucible at Olney Theatre Center; Sweeney Todd and Dorian’s Closet at Rep Stage; That Face at Baltimore Center Stage. Favorite New York credits include Crazy for You, directed by Susan Stroman, David Geffen Hall; Triumph of Love and Hippolyte et Aricie, directed by Stephen Wadsworth, The Juilliard School. Favorite Regional Credits include The Lily’s Revenge at American Repertory Theater, Disgraced and In The Next Room at Syracuse Stage, and Beauty and The Beast, Walt Disney Creative Entertainment. Member USA 829. www.sarahcubbage.com

Jesse W. Belsky (Lighting Design) is delighted to be back at Theater J after designing Occupant, Actually, Talley’s Folly and Everything Is Illuminated. Other recent DC designs include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Ford’s Theatre, The Year of Magical Thinking and JQA at Arena Stage, The Mystery of Love & Sex at Signature Theatre, Henry 4 P1 and A Winter’s Tale at Folger Theatre, The Magic Play at Olney Theatre Center, The Remains at Studio Theatre and Oslo at Round House Theatre. Regional credits include work at Actors Theater of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Triad Stage and PlayMakers Repertory Company. Mr. Belsky holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and has taught lighting design at Connecticut College and UNC Greensboro. www.jessebelsky.com

Sarah O’Halloran (Sound Design and Original Music) is a sound designer and composer. She has previously worked at Theater J on Talley’s Folly. Other credits include: Studio Theatre: Cry it Out; Olney Theatre Center: The Humans, Our Town and Labour of Love; The Second City/Woolly Mammoth Theatre: She the People: The Resistance Continues; Everyman Theatre: Be Here Now, Proof, and Dinner with Friends, Rep Stage: E2, The 39 Steps, The Heidi Chronicles and Things That Are Round; 1st Stage Theater: The Brothers Size, Swimming with Whales, Trevor, and When the Rain Stops Falling; Mosaic Theater: The Return; Theater Alliance: A Chorus Within Her; Forum Theatre: Nat Turner in Jerusalem; What Every Girl Should Know, and Dry Land.

Pamela Weiner (Resident Props Designer) is elated to be back and producing live theater again. Her work has previously been seen on stage at The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Round House Theatre, Constellation Theatre Company, and Signature Theatre. This is her third season with Theater J.

Jenna Place (Casting Director) is Theater J's resident Casting Director, a freelance casting director and director in the DC area, and the Associate Artistic Director at Olney Theatre Center. Past casting has included work at Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre MTC, Mosaic Theater, Forum Theatre, Studio Theatre, the Lab for Global Performance and Politics, and more.

Tonya Beckman (Dialect Coach) Previous dialect coaching at Theater J includes Sotto Voce, The Sisters Rosensweig, Photograph 51, and she has appeared on the Theater J stage in Mikveh, Yellow Face, and The Jewish Queen Lear. Other dialect coaching credits include Eclipsed, Maria Stuart (Woolly Mammoth Theatre); Or (Round House Theatre); Sweeney Todd (Rep Stage); Anatole (Imagination Stage); A Flea in Her Ear, Crazyface (Constellation Theatre Company); Oedipus the King (Lean & Hungry Theater); Theories of the Sun (Longacre Lea); Riches (Anacostia Playhouse), and she is the resident dialect coach at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts. Acting credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Mosaic Theater, Totem Pole Playhouse, Solas Nua, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Fulton Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Cleveland Play House. She is also a company member at Taffety Punk and on the theatre faculty at George Washington University.

Anthony O. Bullock (Production Stage Manager) is the Resident Stage Manager for the 21-22 season. Past Theater J projects include Tuesdays with Morrie, The Wanderers, Sheltered, Occupant, Love Sick, The Jewish Queen Lear, and Actually. NYC credits include The School for Lies (Classic Stage Company), A Nation Grooves (workshop) and The Night Falls (workshop) with Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals. DC credits include Signature Theatre, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, and Studio Theatre. Other regional credits include McCarter Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Passage Theatre Company, TheatreSquared, and Shakespeare & Company, among others. He toured with The White Snake by Mary Zimmerman in association with Goodman Theatre, as part of The Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China. He received his BFA from Oklahoma City University. He is a proud member of AEA.

Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers working in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit actorsequity.org.

THEATER J LEADERSHIP

Adam Immerwahr (Theater J Artistic Director) has served as the Artistic Director of Theater J since 2015. He is the former Associate Artistic Director at McCarter Theatre Center, a Tony Award-winning theater in Princeton, NJ, where his directing credits include Sleuth, The Understudy, The Mousetrap, and a now-annual production of A Christmas Carol, and his producing credits include world premieres by Edward Albee, John Guare, Will Power, Christopher Durang, Marina Carr, Danai Gurira, and many more. He was the Resident Director at Passage Theater in Trenton, NJ, and the Artistic Director of OnStage, a company of New Jersey senior citizens who collected and performed the stories of their community. Adam has directed at some of the top theaters in the country, including The Public and Theater Row (both for Summer Play Festival), Ensemble Studio Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, McCarter Theater, Cleveland Play House, Theater J, Passage Theater, Luna Stage, Hangar Theater, Bristol Riverside, and many others. Internationally, he directed the African premiere of The Convert (nominated for Zimbabwe’s National Arts Medal). He was the recipient of 2010 NJ Theatre Alliance “Applause Award” and 2014 Emerging Nonprofit Leader Award presented by Fairleigh Dickinson University. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Alliance for Jewish Theater, and is an inaugural member of the Drama League Director's Council. Adam is a graduate of Brown University, where he studied both Theater and Renaissance/Early Modern Studies.

David Lloyd Olson (Theater J Managing Director) has spent over a decade managing nonprofit theaters, most recently serving as managing director of Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia where he oversaw the organization’s largest ever fundraising campaign and the doubling of their annual foundation support. He was manager of the executive office and board engagement at the Shakespeare Theatre Company where he supported the transition of the theatre’s artistic directorship from Michael Kahn to Simon Godwin. He was a founding company member of Pointless Theatre in Washington, DC, where he served for ten years as managing director, during which time the company was awarded the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company at the Helen Hayes Awards. He was an Allen Lee Hughes management fellow at Arena Stage and served as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Valmiera, Latvia. He has twice been the recipient of a DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellowship program grant and was on the host committee of the 2016 Theatre Communications Group national conference. He attended the University of Maryland where he received a B.A. in theatre from the College of Arts and Humanities and a B.A. in government and politics from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He is a member of Adas Israel Congregation.

IN MEMORY OF Ellen Brie Houseknecht

February 28, 1977 – December 14, 2021

Theater J dedicates this production of Rinne B. Groff’s Compulsion or the House Behind to the memory of Ellen Brie Houseknecht, who died of natural causes on December 14, 2021.

For over 15 years, Ellen was a key member of the Theater J scene shop, serving as Lead Construction Associate. A skilled carpenter and welder, Ellen’s artistry appeared in nearly every production on Theater J’s stage, and her vibrant wit and great friendship were a source of joy for all who worked with her. She particularly excelled as a load-in crew leader, as well as at carpentry projects that required an eye and hand for careful, precise work. Ellen was a great friend to many members of the Theater J staff, particularly those who worked with her most closely in our scene shop. Theater J would not have become the theater we are today without her dedication, loyalty, talent, artistry, and great spirit.

Born in State College, Pennsylvania, Ellen moved with her family to Columbia, Missouri in 1978 and to Leesburg, Virginia in 1992. She graduated from Loudoun County High School in 1995 and from Longwood College in 2000 with a degree in Design and Technical Theater. Following college, Ellen worked in the theater community in the Washington, DC and Baltimore region; in addition to her role at Theater J, Ellen worked at many other local theaters as an Equity stage manager, carpenter, electrician, and artisan.

As a child, Ellen was a voracious reader and books that particularly captured her imagination were given special attention. She often adapted those stories into backyard plays featuring herself, her younger brother, and neighborhood children. She appeared in her first “real” play at age 11 and was hooked! She immersed herself in every available theater opportunity thereafter – summer theater for children, junior-high and high school plays, forensics, college plays, and summer stock via internships. Ellen is survived by her parents, Stephanie and David, her brother, Walter (Liane), two nieces (Lydia and Campbell), her maternal grandmother (Bernice Quay), three aunts, one uncle, and eleven cousins. Beyond her immediate family, Ellen is survived by scores of treasured friends, young (especially two special little boys) and old.

Ellen will be dearly missed. May her memory be a blessing.

A NOTE FROM RINNE B. GROFF, PLAYWRIGHT

My Compulsion* is a work of fiction based on one chapter in the life of a fantastic writer named Meyer Levin. It wasn’t the only chapter in his life, but it was a doozy. As he describes it in the opening paragraph of his autobiographical The Obsession:

“In the middle of my life I fell into a trouble that was to grip, occupy, haunt, and all but devour me, these twenty years. I’ve used the word ‘fall.’ It implies something accidental, a stumbling, but we also use the word in speaking of ‘falling in love,’ in which there is a sense of elevation, and where a fatedness is implied, a feeling of being inevitably bound in through all the mysterious components of character to this expression of the life process, whether in the end beautifully gratifying, or predominantly painful.”

Oh, how I wish I had the space to quote more from that fascinating book.

In the writing of this play, I have relied much on Levin’s writings, especially In Search, The Fanatic, and The Obsession. Levin’s published works are alas largely out of print, but still available; many of the unpublished are archived at the excellent Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University. There, too, one can find incredible letters from Levin’s widow Tereska Torres, a brilliant published author in her own right who has also written about this affair in her husband’s life, most engagingly and nakedly in Les Maisons Hanteés de Meyer Levin. I first became aware of the story which became the springboard for this play when Frank Rich reviewed Lawrence Yurman’s terrific non-fiction book An Obsession with Anne Frank. From there, my research took me to many places, but in terms of larger works, it feels appropriate to acknowledge Ralph Melnick’s The Stolen Legacy of Anne Frank and, of course, the intense and remarkable book which sets this tale in motion, first published in English as The Diary of a Young Girl and now comprehensively presented and contextualized in The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition. Without the writer Anne Frank and her contributions to the world, none of this work holds any meaning.

*There is also Meyer Levin’s Compulsion, a work of fiction based on the lurid facts of the Leopold and Loeb murder and its subsequent trial. I decided to re-use Levin’s title for many reasons, one of them being that in writing this play, I model Levin’s methodology for that novel. Quoting from the introduction to Compulsion:

“I have followed an actual case, are these, then, actual persons? I follow known events. Some scenes are, however, total interpolations, and some of my personages have no correspondence to persons in the case in question.”

In Levin’s Compulsion, there is a young University of Chicago student and cub reporter which Levin based on himself and to whom he gave the name Sid Silver.

A TIMELINE

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK AND MEYER LEVIN:

The Diary of Anne Frank might never have been published in English, or produced as a play, without author Meyer Levin’s unceasing obsession. His efforts eventually drew him into court against Otto Frank, as outlined here.

1942: JUNE Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13 th birthday and writes her first entry; the Franks go into hiding less than a month later.

1944: The Franks are arrested

1945: MARCH Anne is murdered at Bergen-Belsen. AUGUST Miep Gies gives Anne’s diary to Otto Frank

1950: Le Journel de Anne Frank is published in France; Meyer Levin, reporting in Europe, receives a copy from his wife. After correspondences, Otto accepts Levin’s offer to seek an English-language publisher and encourages him to work on a stage adaptation of the Diary.

1952 MAY – JUNE Doubleday publishes the Diary in English as The Diary of a Young Girl. JULY Cheryl Crawford signs on to produce a stage version at Levin’s recommendation. She promises Levin he can adapt, but openly considers Lillian Hellman. OCTOBER Crawford rejects Levin’s script as “too faithful” to the Diary.

1953 APRIL – JUNE Kermit Bloomgarden succeeds Crawford as producer. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett agree to adapt the Diary.

1955 OCTOBER 5 Goodrich and Hackett’s The Diary of Anne Frank opens on Broadway at the Cort Theatre.

1956 Levin files plagiarism suit against Otto and Bloomgarden.

1958 Levin wins his lawsuit, but eventually agrees to a settlement.

1966 The Soldiers Theatre, part of the Israeli Defense Forces, stages Levin’s adaptation in Tel Aviv. Otto’s attorney quickly shut it down.

1980 Otto Frank dies

1981 Meyer Levin dies

1989 "Critical Edition” of The Diary of Anne Frank is published, containing previously cut and edited passages.

COMPULSION OR THE HOUSE BEHIND STAFF

Head Electrician: Garth Dolan Charge Artist: Carolyn Hampton Lead Shop Associate: Ellen Houseknecht Light Board Programmer: Cody Whitfield Sound Board Operator: Megan Holden Load-in Crew: Matty Griffiths, Anna Feinerman, Stephen Indrisano, Johnny Robertson, Danny Debner Costume Design Assistant: Grace Mitchell

Special Thanks To: Ilsemarie Bechert, Andrea Bechert, Al Munzer, and to Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Olney Theatre Center, and Amalgamated Vintage for lending Theater J costumes for this production.

EDLAVITCH DCJCC LEADERSHIP & THEATER J STAFF

EDLAVITCH DCJCC Chief Executive Officer: Dava Schub Chief Financial Officer: Craig Mintz Chief Operating Officer: Bini W. Silver

THEATER J STAFF Artistic Director: Adam Immerwahr Managing Director: David Lloyd Olson

Associate Producer: Kevin Place Associate Artistic Director: Johanna Gruenhut Resident Casting Director: Jenna Place “Expanding the Canon” Rosh Beit: Sabrina Sojourner Commissioned Writers: Lila Rose Kaplan, Caraid O’Brien and Aaron Posner

Director of Marketing and Community Engagement: Stephanie Deutchman Director of Patron Experience: Chad Kinsman Creative Director, Edlavitch DCJCC: Molly Winston Ticket Office Manager: Jasmine Jones Development Coordinator: Emily Gardner Press Representative: Kendra Rubinfeld PR

Technical Director: Thomas Howley Production Coordinator: Danny Debner Resident Production Stage Manager: Anthony O. Bullock Resident Props Designer: Pamela Weiner

House Managers and Ticket Office Associates: Mitchell Adams, Charlie Aube, Kaiya Lyons, KJ Moran Velz, Hadiya Rice, Sam Rollin, Robert Reeg, Jill Roos, Nitsan Scharf and Mary-Margaret Walsh

Founding Artistic Director: Martin Blank

Tradition! Looking at a play through Judaism's lens

By Theater J Associate Artistic Director, Johanna Gruenhut

What is the Jewish canon? The Torah, the Passover Haggadah, the Purim Megillah, these books are clear entries. In each case the religion demands that the books be sung, enacted, shared; out loud, ritually, and most importantly, together.

The message is that these texts are more than history. They are memory. The distinction is central to Judaism. History is recorded. Memory is something more visceral. The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks explains the distinction: “History is information. Memory, by contrast, is part of identity…. [History is] the past as past. Memory is the past as present, as it lives on in me. Without memory there can be no identity.”

The Holocaust is a tragic late addition to Jewish memory, and if any book has become a ritualized central text, it is The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Compulsion or the House Behind is a fictionalized account of how the diary entered the world’s collective consciousness. Sid Silver, our protagonist, feels a responsibility to canonize the diary for the Jewish people, as memory not just as history, as a belonging, carried and lived with.

The Diary of a Young Girl is an ideal vessel for somehow carrying and living with the lives broken by the Holocaust. It functions as more than history, more even than memory. Drawn from a singular life it is an exhortation never to forget.

Why is the exhortation not to forget so central in Judaism, as opposed to the commandment to remember? Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of Adas Israel Congregation shared a beautiful observation with me: “Remembering is something one can do on their own. ‘Not forgetting’ is a collective action.” This is why, for example, Kaddish and Yizkor (the hallowed prayers for the dead) can only be said in a minyan (a community of prayer). It is the reason also for the ritualized reenactment of collective memory, the weekly singing of the Torah portion, the retelling of the Passover Haggadah. Perhaps it accounts for the great impact of The Diary of a Young Girl. As Rabbi Aaron Alexander, also of Adas Israel explains: it’s “a book that lends itself so easily to the Jewish canon because of the way it irresistibly compels its audience to share it.”

A BUILDING OF BABEL?

Language Courses at the EDCJCC

By Theater J Associate Producer, Kevin Place

Any day of the week, you’ll find many languages being spoken here at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center—or, more precisely of late, in the EDCJCC’s Zoom accounts. Nearly 100 adult learners take dozens of courses in Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, and American Sign Language (ASL), which allow them unique opportunities to study and create community.

The largest set of offerings is Hebrew. A 12-course progression allows students to build towards fluency, culminating in a Modern Israeli Literature seminar. A focus on conversational Hebrew makes the Hebrew classes at the EDCJCC distinct from other institutions where reading scripture and speaking prayers are paramount. The students’ motivations to study their chosen language vary: some want to further their religious school education or keep up with their children’s, some are preparing for a trip, and others seek connection to the language their parents or grandparents spoke.

Courses are capped at ten students on Zoom, meaning that weekly lessons double as social time. Students move from one level to the next as a group and with the same teacher. They learn as much about each other as they do about vocabulary, and their interactions increase in complexity as they learn new words for emotions, ideas, and actions. “Learning Hebrew at the EDJCCC during the pandemic has been an incredible experience,” said Louie Gold, a public health professional and student in EDCJCC Hebrew classes.

“I can’t believe how much fluency I’ve gained in such a short period, as well as the friendships I’ve developed with my fellow students.”

Amanda Herring, Manager of Jewish Life and Learning at the EDCJCC gives all the credit for the courses’ success to the cadre of teachers who lead them: “they are all stars and care really deeply about the students as learners and as humans. It’s their dedication that turns each class into a little family.”

Winter sessions for all languages and levels begin the week of January 31 and summer sessions will begin in early June.

Lessing the Divisive: A BRIEF CRITICAL HISTORY OF NATHAN THE WISE

By Theater J Director of Patron Experience, Chad Kinsman

As long as there has been theater, there have been plays which have irked the powers that be. Lysistrata. Tartuffe. A Doll’s House. Angels in America. Today considered masterpieces, these plays, for various reasons, sparked controversies and even bans, earning their writers censure and possible ignominy. Few plays, though, have drawn the ire of historical forces across ideologies and centuries like Nathan the Wise.

In 1779, when G.E. Lessing published his drama of religious tolerance, the Enlightenment-era writer, critic, and theologian had already greatly contributed to German theater. Influenced by Shakespeare, he had thrown off the constraints of the de rigueur French neoclassicism to write several plays which blended comedy and tragedy, dealt with

concerns of middle-class characters, and contributed to a distinct culture capable of unifying the dozens of disparate German territories.

Despite this success, he often found himself at odds with German authorities. Throughout the 1770s, Lessing had been editing and publishing texts which questioned Christian doctrine. Lessing and his peers, including his close friend, philosopher and polymath Moses Mendelssohn, were heavily influenced by Spinoza. For them, faith and reason were not irreconcilable, dogma should not impede freedom of thought, and no single religion could claim a monopoly on truth.

Such beliefs ignited a very public feud with a prominent Lutheran pastor, Johann Melchior Goeze.

While Lessing’s arguments were generally more substantive, as well as literary, Goeze’s political connections were better. When the local government banned Lessing from publishing religious materials, he decided to turn to his “old pulpit, the stage.” His play, Nathan the Wise, depicts the tense truce under which Muslims and Jews cooperated in 1192 Jerusalem, a city still distressed from the recent Third Crusade. The play juxtaposes the actions—not the religions—of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It was not performed until 1783, two years after Lessing’s death at the age of 54.

Nathan the Wise was first translated and performed in English in 1805, and it remained popular across Europe throughout the 19th century. In 1922, German director Manfred Nolan adapted the play for a silent film as a commentary on the rampant nationalism which contributed to the outbreak of the First World War. Seven years later, while speaking at an event observing Lessing’s 200 th birthday, Thomas Mann called it “the high point of German literature and culture.” Many, though, saw assimilationist tendencies in the play and asserted the dangers of depicting a universal and undifferentiated humanity, in their eyes the hubristic and failed project of the Enlightenment.

In 1930s, the play continued to stir controversy. In 1933, Julius Bab selected the play to inaugurate the Kulturbund Deutscher Juden, a Jewish cultural organization founded with Nazi approval. Defending his choice to produce a German-authored play for a Jewish audience, Bab cited the play’s depiction of a pluralistic society and evoked its message of universal human rights and tolerance. Post- Holocaust, writers such as Hannah Arendt built on earlier antiassimilationist critiques, arguing that seeking tolerance in the face of history was naïve and left European Jews at the mercy of the dominant society.

Today, Nathan the Wise does not receive the same level of pushback. But the play’s history shows that its message of liberalism and the promise of a multi-faith society can provoke those who, as a means to power, employ division and prejudice, or even those affected by their terrible exercise.

Michael Bloom’s new adaptation of Lessing’s Nathan the Wise will play at Theater J from March 16 to April 10, 2022. The play will be produced in association with Folger Theatre. For tickets, visit theaterj.org or call 202.777.3210.

DEEPEN YOUR IMPACT

Theater J is dedicated to producing work that illuminates ethical questions of our time, examines the changing landscape of Jewish identities, and celebrates inter-cultural experiences. It is because of you, our community, our audience, our supporters, that Theater J has grown to be “the nation’s most prominent Jewish theater” (American Theatre Magazine). Less than half of Theater J’s budget comes from ticket revenue. We are reliant on generous gifts from audience members like you, who see the value of having a thriving Jewish cultural center in the heart of the city.

We invite you to join your friends and neighbors in supporting our work. With your gift, you’ll be recognizing the vital role Theater J plays in our community–a place where the stories of immigrants are proudly told, where we ask that theater engage both the head and the heart, and where we produce art that reminds you of who you are.

WAYS TO GIVE Theater J accepts contributions by mail, phone, online, or through stock donation. Checks can be made payable to Theater J and mailed to 1529 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. For more information or to make a donation visit TheaterJ.org/Donate or contact Emily@theaterj.org or call 202.777.3225.

ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

Theater J, as part of the Edlavitch DCJCC, embraces inclusion in all of its programs and activities. Theater J strives to make our productions accessible to all by providing the following to meet the needs of our patrons and to enhance their experience at the theater. For more information, please contact Chad Kinsman, Director of Patron Experience, at 202.777.3268.

ACCESSIBLE SEATING The Edlavitch DCJCC has ramp access from the Q Street entrance, and our ground and second floor restrooms are ADA accessible. In the Goldman Theater, removable seats provide patrons with the opportunity to be seated with their companions while sitting in their wheelchair. Please inform the Ticket Office of your needs at the time of ticket purchase and indicate if companion seats are required as well. Call 202.777.3210 or email TheaterJ@TheaterJ.org.

ASSISTIVE LISTENING Assistive listening devices are free-of-charge and offered on a first-come, first-served basis at all performances. They are available at the Ticket Office on the ground floor.

OPEN CAPTIONING Open Captioning (OC) is offered during one performance of each Theater J production. If you would like to reserve seats which are set aside for optimal OC viewing please contact the Ticket Office at theaterj@theaterj.org or 202.777.3210.

LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS Large print programs are available at our Ticket Office, located on the first floor.

Theater J respects and welcomes gender diversity. Please use the restroom which makes you most comfortable or most closely fits your gender identity or expression. An all-gender restroom is located on the Lower Level.

BEYOND THE STAGE Theater J is dedicated to taking its dialogues beyond the stage, offering public discussion forums which explore the theatrical, cultural, and social elements of our art throughout the year. Below are the events planned during the run of Compulsion or the House Behind. All events are free and open to everyone. Please visit theaterj.org for up-to-date announcements. Guests and times subject to change.

Sunday, February 6, following the 2:00 PM performance

CREATIVE CONVERSATION: Attend an insider’s reflection on the creative process. Theater J artists from each production answer questions and offer insights about design, inspiration, rehearsal, and collaboration.

Sunday, February 13, following the 2:00 PM performance

SUNDAY SYMPOSIUM: Hear from experts on topics related to each production. With equal parts lecture and conversation, Theater J invites specialists in their fields—doctors, historians, theologians and activists— to delve deeper into the play’s history, cultural context, and themes.

Wednesday, February 16, following the 7:30 PM performance

CAST TALKBACK: Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an actor or to perform on stage at Theater J? Well, here’s your chance! Join members of the cast to ask your burning questions about each production and their artistic practice.

ONLINE CLASSES FOR THEATER LOVERS

Deepen your knowledge or explore a new aspect of theater with our awardwinning artists alongside fellow theater lovers.

Subscribers receive a significant discount on classes! Past favorites include Beyond the Script, How to Watch a Musical, and The Art of Adaptation. Join us for a new and exciting variety of classes, all taught by Theater J staff and theater professionals from the DC area. Register at theaterj.org/classes.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION Theater J and the Edlavitch DCJCC commit to being an inclusive, safe, and welcoming space for all. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations from either patrons or staff. Please visit our website at theaterj.org to learn more about our policies and procedures.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Our building sits on the traditional homeland of the Nacotchtank (Anacostan), farmers and traders who lived along the banks of the Anacostia River. Beginning in 1608, European settlers decimated the Nacotchtank with disease, warfare, and forced removal. By the 1700s, the survivors fled to join other tribes to the north, south, and west, including the Piscataway Peoples, who continue to steward these lands from generation to generation. We know this acknowledgement is only a small step towards justice, and we ask that all of us learn about the past and present and invest in the future of our country’s Indigenous communities wherever we are.