The Righteous by Jeff Cohen –
A new play reading to commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
Yiddishkayt Initiative (YI Love Jewish) and The University of Miami’s Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies in association with Miami New Drama and Second Serve Productions proudly present a staged reading of Drama Desk Award winner Jeff Cohen’s (The Soap Myth) new play “The Righteous.”
Featuring Tony Award Nominee CRAIG BIERKO (The Music Man, Cinderella Man) and Drama Desk Award nominee AVI HOFFMAN (Death of a Salesman)
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In a World filled with Turmoil and Amorality,
What does it mean to be Righteous?
What would you do if you learned that your country planned to exterminate an entire race of people? That is the horrible question faced by Eduard Schulte, a captain of German industry and member of Hitler’s inner circle. “The Righteous” is the true story of the man who sounded the alarm of Hitler’s plan to murder all the Jews in Europe. Schulte’s warning reached the desk of FDR in December, 1942. Roosevelt refused to act.
Schulte’s identity was a closely guarded secret for over forty years and his heroic act to stop the Holocaust was kept hidden from his family and from the world. “The Righteous” tells his story through the lens of Priscilla Schulte, the American granddaughter who never knew him. She uncovers a compelling and poignant portrait of a man who risked his life to stand up against evil. In 1988, Eduard Schulte was posthumously honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations – a Righteous Gentile.
The cast will feature Tony Award Nominee Craig Bierko (The Music Man) and two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Avi Hoffman (Death of a Salesman) as well as an award-winning cast including Laura Turnbull, Patti Gardner, Irene Adjan, Peter Galman, Chiz Chisholm, Stephen Schnetzer and Dave Corey.
Reading followed by moderated Q&A.
Admission is free, but registration is required.
Donations are welcome!
JEFF COHEN (Playwright). Jeff Cohen’s drama The Soap Myth is considered one of the most important plays about antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Ed Asner toured the country in The Soap Myth as a “concert reading,” and the play was filmed and broadcast by PBS starring Mr. Asner and Tovah Feldshuh. Other notable actors who have performedThe Soap Myth include Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Gunton, John Rubinstein, Harris Yulin, and Jayne Atkinson. His play The Man Who Ate Michael Rockefeller was a NY Times and Time Out New York Critic’s Pick. He received international acclaim and a special 2002 Drama Desk Award for his response to the attacks of 9/11. The Tribeca Playhouse Stage Door Canteen, his 10-week USO-style variety show to “entertain the troops” (the rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero) featured such stars as Kristen Chenoweth, Phylicia Rashad, Sandy Duncan, Colin Quinn, and many more. He produced and directed a number of award-winning new plays, including Christopher Shinn’s Four (NY Times Critic’s Pick) and Tristine Skyler’s The Moonlight Room (NY Times annual Ten Best productions). The NY Times Arts & Leisure profiled him alongside internationally acclaimed avant-garde artists Ivo Van Hove and The Wooster Group for his groundbreaking work adapting classic plays to an American milieu. In his five decades in the theater, Mr. Cohen has helped launch the careers of Laura Linney, Kathryn Hahn, Christopher Shinn, Michael Ealy, and DB Sweeney – to name just a few.
