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Click for a larger view... Seton Hill University Theatre is proud to present “MAZEL” by Amy Hartman. See the first public performances of this remarkable play. “MAZEL,” a new play written by Pittsburgh playwright Amy Hartman and inspired by the life of Holocaust survivor Jack Sittsamer, portrays a family in which Holocaust memories – kept secret – create bitter family conflict. The conflict threatens to destroy the family until an unlikely angel intervenes. The angel inspires the family to take an amazing journey back through time and halfway around the world to find the truth that unites them. “Mazel” is hopeful and angry, provocative, compelling, funny, sad, ironic and visceral. It deals not only with the history of the Holocaust, but how we can overcome its legacy – as the universal struggles of family, war and God unfold in our present day world and in the human heart. Commissioned by the Holocaust Center of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “Mazel” will be directed by Jonathan Rest, with Carlyn Aquiline serving as Dramaturg. Seton Hill University Theatre is proud to host the first public performances of “Mazel” co-produced with the Holocaust Center of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Seton Hill students cast in “Mazel” are: Steven J. Clemens of Imperial, Pa. as Martin; Sarah Danko of Latrobe, Pa. as Pearl (understudy); Jeffrey A. Gettemy, Jr. of Greensburg, Pa. as Survivor #1; Adriana Dawn Gissendanner of Clairton, Pa. as Survivor #4; Andrew J. Lease of Greensburg, Pa. as Jack Sittsamer (understudy); Jeannette Renee Lundell of Greensburg, Pa. as Survivor #2 and Darcy Jo Wood of Greensburg, Pa. as Survivor #3. “This performance will be different than what we usually do in that we will have professional actors in some of the lead roles,” says Dr. Terry Brino-Dean, director of Seton Hill’s Theatre Program. “Students, who will fill other roles and serve as technicians, will have a unique opportunity to participate in bringing a new work to the stage, while learning from the playwright and experienced stage actors.” The professional actors cast in Seton Hill’s performance of “Mazel” are: Robert Arthur Haley as Jack Sittsamer and Patricia C. Reilly (SHU ’69) as Pearl. Seton Hill’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education (NCCHE) will coordinate a Talk Back session and a reception with local Holocaust survivors following the Thursday, October 12, 8 p.m. performance. “We’re very happy to have this opportunity to partner with the Holocaust Center of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh,” says Sr. Lois Sculco, NCCHE administrator and vice president for administration and student life at Seton Hill. “Jack Sittsamer, and many of the other survivors mentioned in the play, have attended our annual Kristallnacht remembrance services, and have spoken to our students about their experiences. We are honored to be able to help bring their stories to the stage.” To help prepare her students for “Mazel,” Sr. Sculco is using “Flares of Memory: Stories of Childhood During the Holocaust,” one of the books that inspired the play, in her fall senior seminar. Her students will attend the play, in addition to the annual November Kristallnacht remembrance service held at Seton Hill, and will have the opportunity to interview some of the survivors mentioned in the play (including local survivor Fritz Ottenheimer, who is the featured speaker for the Kristallnacht service) for a class project. Sr. Lois also believes that “Mazel” will be of special interest to the students and faculty who have attended the March of Remembrance and Hope – including student Sarah Danko, a “Mazel” cast member - an annual trip to Poland to visit Holocaust monuments, memorials, and the remains of former death camps, coordinated locally by the NCCHE. “Only by understanding the roots of prejudice – in others and ourselves – and seeing its catastrophic results,” says Sr. Sculco, “can we hope to build a better world for all.” Seton Hill Theatre will perform “MAZEL” All performances are held in Reeves Theatre on Seton Hill's Greensburg, Pa. campus. Tickets are $12, or $10 each for groups of 16 or more. $5 student rush tickets are available five minutes before curtain. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Seton Hill Box Office at boxoffice@setonhill.edu or 724-838-4241. For more detailed information about Mazel, please download the Mazel Study Guide |
