The trial of FDR at New Stage Performing Arts Center, Pittsfield.
This week the New Stage Performing Arts Center is offering the world premiere of “The Trial of Franklin Delano Roosevelt”,” by Edward Bernstein, which re-examines the reputation of one of America’s most beloved Presidents. The play was developed through the “New Works at New Stage” program of staged readings this past March.
Young Mandel (David Girard) and Leah (Amanda Lederer) argue with the Immigration officer (Andrew Joffe) in Nazi Germany in the world premiere of "The Trial of Franklin Delano Roosevelt" at New Stage Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield.
“The play has three interweaving plot lines,” says director Macey Levin. “The three threads have different dramatic tones, each emotionally effective while it complements the others. The temptation is to sensationalize the events at the cost of the characters’ humanness. The play is profound without being didactic or maudlin.”
“This is the first real fruit of our passionate commitment to developing new work,” adds New Stage’s Artistic Director Nicki Wilson. “We were excited by this script in its early form, and we are very excited about how it has developed.”
Mutler, a Nazi, (Andrew Joffe) torments the young Arthur Mandel (David Girard) in a concentration camp.
The play runs from September 1 through September 18, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 3:00 PM. There will be a talkback with the playwright, director and actors following each Sunday matinee. Performances will be held at the New Stage Performing Arts Center, 55 North Street, 2nd floor, above the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, MA. Tickets are $20.00. For reservations and more information, call (413) 418-0999
About the Holocaust
Bodies are burned in Auschwitz. In the summer of 1944 more than 440,000 Hungarian Jews arrived in Birkenau. The capacity of the ovens did not suffice - as a result the bodies were burned under open sky. (Source: Sterbenbücher von Auschwitz, vol. 1, p. 192).
A total of six extermination camps were established with the ghoulish purpose of killing Jews one after the other. Gypsies, gays, political dissenters and other groups from all over Europe were also sent to the extermination camps.
A total of at least 3 million Jews were murdered in the six extermination camps. The precise figure is impossible to estimate, since the Nazis did not calculate the number as individuals but rather as the number of trainloads that arrived to the extermination facilities.
