Fairfield University Presents "Etty"

From Fairfield University:

FAIRFIELD, CT — On Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Etty, a one-woman play based on the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch Jewish woman who died in Auschwitz in 1943, will be performed at the Wien Experimental Theatre, located in Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts.

Adapted and performed by Susan Stein, the play is directed by Austin Pendleton.

The mission of the play is to use the writings of Etty Hillesum to promote social justice, to challenge prejudice by examining the consequences of genocide and to enable participants to explore their own personal stories alongside Etty's, as they consider their role in the struggle for human rights.

Using only Etty Hillesum's words, Stein's adaptation brings us to 1941 when Esther “Etty” Hillesum, is living in Amsterdam. Upon the recommendation of her therapist, Julius Spier, she began a diary on March 8, 1941 to help her with her depression. The diaries take on their own literary life, presenting both Etty's growth as a writer and spiritual transformation. Etty's words, insights and beliefs reach out from the Holocaust and allow us to see the power of hope and individual thought in the most extreme circumstances.

The play challenges participants to reexamine assumptions about the Holocaust and explore issues of resistance, human rights, social justice and individual responsibility.

The play is free and open to the public. Seating is limited to 120 people. Reservations requested. The event is sponsored by Fairfield University’s Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies.

For reservations: email bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or call 203-254-4000, ext. 2066.

For more information about Etty, the play, or Etty Hillesum, visit: www.ettyplay.org

Click here for information on other Bennett Center events.

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95.

Image via Pixabay.