DETROIT, MI — Detroit Public Theatre is honored to open our ninth season with Jennifer Maisel’s powerful, lyrical play Eight Nights, which follows the journey of a Holocaust survivor as she builds a life of meaning and joy, and a profoundly diverse community of friends and family. In a time when we are experiencing an alarming rise in anti-semitism and gender and race-based hate throughout the United States, Eight Nights offers extraordinary opportunities for meaningful dialogue about anti-semitism, racism, trauma and resilience, while celebrating the human spirit and our capacity for healing and compassion.

DPT is proud to surround this production with facilitated talk backs designed to make space for audiences to discuss the questions and themes of the play.

Eight Nights will take audiences on a profound journey alongside Rebecca, a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who arrives in New York in 1949 at the age of 19. We travel with Rebecca through eight nights of Hanukkah celebrated over many decades, and bear witness to both her resilience and her struggles as she builds a life, a family, and a diverse community of loved ones.

Jennifer Maisel’s work explores the effects of the Holocaust on four generations of one family. It explores Rebecca’s drive to move forward and build a life of love, joy, and meaning, as well as the ways in which the trauma of the past remains present for her and future generations.

Jennifer Maisel’s beautiful play speaks to the unique place the Holocaust holds in history, while also finding important commonalities among Jewish American, Black American, Japanese American, Middle Eastern American, and LGBTQ American experiences. The play inspires deep empathy, connecting communities which have endured oppression and persecution without suggesting that any one community’s experiences are the same as those of another.

Through facilitated post show dialogues, DPT hopes to make space for meaningful conversations about both the unique and universal experiences of so many Metro Detroit community members. Eight Night has “breathtaking emotional impact,” according to The Los Angeles Times, and received 9 Ovation Award nominations in Los Angeles.

“I’m thrilled because I feel like there’s still a relevance to this play,” shared Playwright Jennifer Maisel when asked about the upcoming production of her award-winning play at DPT.

Performances at -Detroit Public Theatre 3960 Third Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48201

PERFORMANCE DATES:
Wednesday at 2pm – Oct 11, 25, Nov 1
Wednesday at 8pm – Sept 27, Oct
Thursday at 10am – Oct 26
Thursday at 8pm – Sept 28, Oct 5, 12, 19, Nov 2
Friday at 8pm – Sept 29, Oct 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov 3
Saturday at 2pm – Oct 7, 21, 28
Saturday at 8pm – Oct 7, 14, 21, 28, Nov 4
Sunday at 2pm – Oct 1, 8 15, 22, 29, Nov 5
CAST:
REBECCA BLUM: Rivka Borek*
ERICH BLUM: Eric Gutman*
ANNA BLUM: Sarah Winkler*
AARON: Michael Lopetrone*
BENJAMIN: Henri Franklin
ARLENE: Janai Lashon*
STEVEN: Kurt Kanazawa*
PRODUCTION TEAM:
DIRECTOR: Marya Mazor
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Doran Konja*
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Badriyyah F. Wazeerud-Din
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Patrick Hanley
SCENIC DESIGNER: Sarah Pearline
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Matt Taylor
COSTUME DESIGNER: Christopher Vergara
PROPS DESIGNER: Laurence Vance
SOUND DESIGNER/ENGINEER: Katie Hopgood
LIGHTING TECHNICIAN: Owen Zabor
AUDIO TECHNICIAN: Jalise Little
INTIMACY COORDINATOR: Jen Pan
*Denotes Member of Actors Equity Association
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