Ghetto
Written by Joshua Sobol
Directed by Christopher Jerabek
Starring Cole Wagner, Luke Creal, and Chloe johnson
For a course taught by Nicholas Few
“You will never forget our names. We will fight, and we will survive, to carry on, to stay alive. We’ll live forever. We will survive.”
I had the opportunity to direct student actors in two scenes cut from Ghetto by Joshua Sobol. The play concerns a Jewish theatre company trying to survive in the Vilna Ghetto, and doing so through satirical performances. Ghetto showcases how the voiceless can find power through art, even in a world where those in charge abuse their power at every step.
Kittel, played in my production by the incredibly talented Cole Wagner, is the leader of the Vilna Ghetto and serves as the play’s antagonist. He is a representative of the type of person who would rise to power under Hitler’s regime: a sadistic, cold-hearted tyrant. In the monologue featured to the left, he threatens the ghetto’s head of police, Mr. Gens, questioning his loyalty and challenging him to earn his place as a leader.
The Directing class ultimately culminated in a full scene from the show. I was lucky wot work with three incredible freshman actors, Cole Wagner, Luke Creal, and Chloe Johnson, playing Kittel, Gens, and Weiskopf respectively. We rehearsed over the course of several weeks, before filming and editing the final scene. Here, you can watch the final work in its entirety.