Holocaust Lit!

An Irons in the Fire Project

May 17, 2024 @ 4:00pm
Theatre Row, Studio Theatre - 410 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036

By Reid Pope
Directed by Michael Herwitz
CW: Everything.

Synopsis

Dr. Rosen has taught Holocaust Literature at Watson University for over 30 years. This is the worst group of students he’s ever had. As Rosen makes an attempt to lecture, his five horny, distracted, and rather shameless students use the Holocaust material to sling shit at one another about the little t and big T “trauma” they’re navigating on campus.

What are we to do with the history, myths, and culture we inherit? How does literature, pop culture, identity politics, and intellectualization stunt/blur this history over time? How do we situate ourselves in it all?

Performed by

Omari K .Chancellor
Delia Cunningham
Noah Galvin
Philip Hoffman
Jack Mulhern
Isabel Renner
Ali Rose Dachis (Stage Directions)

Stage Manager: Hannah Sgambellone

Playwright

REID POPE [they/them] is a comedian, playwright, and Jew (despite the ironic last name) who’s been featured in PAPER, Vulture, and Boys With Plants Magazine. They do stand-up around NYC/BK and serve as the Head Writer and Executive Producer of Late Stage Live: a trans-led monthly late night comedy news show on Brooklyn public access. Reid’s TV project Old Queens won the 2023 ATX TV Festival Pitch Competition. In 2022, they were named a New York Comedy Festival Content Creator To Watch. As a playwright, Reid has developed work with Jewish Plays Project, Fault Line Theatre, Normal Ave, Edinburgh Fringe, & The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals. Their play Cuntboy & Dickgirl (or: Biology Play) received the 2023 Parity Productions Development Award. They are a New Georges Affiliated Artist.

Follow Reid on Instagram @rpopegram and on Twitter @rpopetweets. Subscribe To Their Weekly Newsletter: reidpope.substack.com. B.A. Brown | M.F.A. NYU

MICHAEL HERWITZ [he/him]: World premier productions of Max Wolf Friedlich’s JOB at the SoHo Playhouse and Connelly Theater, Ryan Spahn’s Inspired by True Events at Out of the Box Theatrics (Summer 2024), Ethan Fuirst’s Dance Dance Revolution at JACK, Allison Snyder’s The Campaign That Failed at Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. Michael has developed new plays and musicals at Ensemble Studio Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the Pasadena Playhouse. As Associate or Assistant Director: MCC, Signature, 59E59, Theater Row. Michael formerly served as Co-Founder and Managing Director of the new play incubator G45 Productions and General Management / Artistic Development Associate at Evan Bernardin Productions. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and LaGuardia Arts. www.michaelherwitz.com.

Poster Sketch by Sean Devare
Photos by Valerie Terranova