Playwright James Wall to join panel discussion on Holocaust after performance of Auschwitz Lullaby Saturday

Release Date: 1/30/2007. Expired: 2/3/2007

Playwright James C. Wall and other guests will take part in a panel discussion on the Holocaust following the Mind Enriching Theatre series production of his play Auschwitz Lullaby at The Renaissance Center Saturday night, Feb. 3.

A powerful story based on events from the diaries of inmates in World War II concentration camps, Auschwitz Lullaby is being presented at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Renaissance Center in Dickson. Tickets are $7 for adult, $5 for seniors and children. The play is not recommended for young children.

Following the performance, Wall, a teacher and award-winning author, will participate in a panel discussion on the Holocaust, the importance of teaching about the Holocaust in schools, how the Holocaust is addressed in film and on stage and other topics.

Scheduled to join Wall on the panel are:

Ruth Tanner, executive director of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission;

Kim Leavitt, director of the Arts Education Program for the Tennessee Arts Commission and a director and actress who has been a part of theatrical productions regarding the Holocaust;

Jay Geller, assistant professor of Modern Jewish Culture and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University, and;

Jimmy Gentry of Franklin, who was an infantryman with the 42^nd Rainbow Division that liberated the Dachau concentration camp and is the author of An American Life.

In addition to the panelists’ comments, the session will include a period for questions from the audience.

An early version of Wall’s Auschwitz Lullaby won a first-place award from the Jewel Box Theatre in Oklahoma City and the Julie Harris Playwright Award from the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild.

A teacher and playwright, Wall lives in Villa Park, Ill., and teaches English and Creative Writing at St. Francis High School in Wheaton, Ill. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Loyola University and a Master’s degree in English and History from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Auschwitz Lullaby tells the story of Dr. Isaac Jonah, a Hungarian Jew who is interned at Auschwitz in Poland along with his wife and daughter. Forced to work in the lab of sadistic Nazi Josef Mengele, Jonah searches for strength in dealing with the “guilt of being alive” as well as the feeling of total helplessness as he witnesses thousands of his fellow Jews being put to death.

Jonah’s internal struggles and fears for the well being of his family are further tested when he is asked to help in the escape of a 16-year-old girl who has miraculously survived the Nazi gas chamber that claimed the rest of her family. Jonah weighs the safety of his own family against the life of this one innocent girl and the possible retribution his actions could bring on his own people.

The Mind Enriching Theatre series is presenting Auschwitz Lullaby for field trips to The Renaissance Center through April 13. The play is for grades 6-12 and is not recommended for young children.

In addition to the play and panel discussion, The Renaissance Center is hosting Living On: Portraits of Tennessee Survivors and Liberators in its art galleries. Organized by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, the traveling exhibit features photographic portraits and biographical sketches of Holocaust survivors, refugees, hidden children and liberators who now live in Tennessee.

More than 70 portraits comprise the exhibit, which is displayed for the first time in its entirety in the galleries of The Renaissance Center through April 29.

An opening reception for the Living On exhibit will be 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, prior to the performance of Auschwitz Lullaby. The exhibit and reception are free. The Renaissance Center’s galleries are open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

To purchase tickets for Auschwitz Lullaby, call (615) 740-5570. To schedule a field trip performance, call (615) 740-5533. For more information on the play or the Living On exhibit, call (615) 740-5600 or visit www.rcenter.org.

The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Theatre page for more about community and professional theatre.

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