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On
Monday Morning October 19th an important meeting took place
at the Westport Country Playhouse. The Managing Director of
the Playhouse together with the Manager of Educational
Programs met with the Program Director of the Music and Arts
Center for Humanity (MACH). They were joined by members of
the Board of MACH. The purpose of the meeting was to
determine how these two not-for-profit organizations, one in
Westport and the other in Bridgeport, could work together
for the benefit of the two disparate communities. The
outcome is incredibly exciting.
In
September 2010 The Playhouse will present “The Diary of Anne
Frank” for a period of three weeks. It was agreed that the
art students at MACH will read the book, participate in
discussions about the book, and then create their own
individual artistic expression of their impressions of the
story. Classes in painting, drawing, and sculpting will
participate, and student work will be placed on display in
the lobby of theater throughout the run of the play.
In
addition a number of meetings and panel discussions would be
held between January and July 2010 between the Bridgeport
students, predominantly African American and Hispanic, with
the play’s Director. Students will also be given
an opportunity to see the play during its run in Westport.
A
unique aspect to the effort is that Steffi Friedman, a
Westport resident who teaches the sculpting class at MACH,
has volunteered to meet with all of the art students and
relate her experiences as a Jewish teenager in Nazi
Germany. When her family left Germany in 1938, two weeks
before Kristalnacht, they escaped to Amsterdam, settling one
block away from Anne Frank.
Questions regarding the project should be directed to Frank
Derico, MACH Program Director at 203-366-3300 ext 224 or
Michael Ross, Managing Director of the Playhouse at
203-227-4177.
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