DISTANT SURVIVORS
​TESTIMONIALS FROM
THE MID-HUDSON VALLEY TOUR
SPRING 2016

​"Distant Survivors is brilliantly written and performed during an intense conversation between several people directly and indirectly involved in the Holocaust. Its pain and wounded memory linger on in the heart, soul and DNA of so many millions of people. Through the use of powerful words and images, the brutality and sadism of this wicked chapter in the history of our world is retold.  For present generations dealing with bigotry, racism and bullying in schools, this story needs to be told again and again so we dare not even consider repeating it.”

Rev. Canon Albert Joy Ogle, Vicar of Lithgow, St Peter's Episcopal Church
 
“By its searing emotion, authentic voices, and intimate, spare staging, instead of confronting, it moved my heart, soul and mind to reflect and relate to the horror as it unfolded. Presented to us, an interfaith community, it created an experience of bearing witness and spurred deep and pain-inspired conversation about war atrocities, cruelty, cultural blindness, and reconciliation.  It is a beautiful, spectacular piece of work.”

The Rev. Cameron Hardy, Associate Director of College Counseling, Chaplain,
Millbrook School
 
“I was deeply moved by this performance.  The actors could not have portrayed the insanity, cruelty, and horrors of the Holocaust in a more realistic way.  I found the entire play deeply disturbing, yet riveting...just what a drama about the Holocaust should invoke.”

Rabbi Jon R. Haddon, Congregation Beth David, Amenia, NY
 
“Within a graphic representation of the horrors of the Holocaust there is integrated a haunting, aesthetically satisfying poetry.  In addition, there are in the play subtle reminders that we still live in “the same castle,” that is, we still see all around us the oppression, often murderous, of the ‘Other.’ The play spurs us to think seriously about that.”

Gerald Sorin, SUNY/New Paltz, Distinguished Professor of American and Jewish Studies and Director, Louis and Mildred Resnick Institute for Study of Modern Jewish Life
 
"The play is a masterful and compelling weave of history, poetry, and second generation witnessing.  The work explores with sensitivity and depth the stance of a second generation German-American who feels the burden of the Holocaust, of being German, and suggests the ways in which we all experience the legacies of the Holocaust in the 21st century.  The actors developed their personae beautifully… the intertwining of historical fact and Heyen's poetry worked dramatically and was quite compelling…a profound and moving theatrical experience."

Jan Zlotnik Schmidt, SUNY/New Paltz Distinguished Teaching Professor 
​

PAST TESTIMONIALS

“Distant Survivors is quintessential Heyen poetry; incendiary, intransigent, challenging and provocative.” 
​
- ​Joyce Carol Oates
“No other American poet has thought more deeply about the Holocaust than William Heyen, and no other American poet has produced such a searing and distinguished body of Holocaust poems.”

- ​Cary Nelson, Editor, Anthology of Modern American Poetry (Oxford 2014)
“Bill Heyen’s poetry is important for people to hear, especially for college students who are ready to grapple with the same issues as he does in his poetry.”

- ​Abby Johnson, Education Chair, Vassar Jewish Union Board Religious and Spiritual Life, Vassar College
“Such a moving experience…the woman in the play displays the terror of the experience so vividly.  I feel that my family has to see this…everyone has to see this.”  

- ​Doris Schafer, Mission Team Leader for Social Ministry, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church
“I and members of St. John's Lutheran Church were extremely blessed to experience Mirage Theatre Company's "Distant Survivors."  The remarkable cast  invites the audience to enter the vital, heart-wrenching "Room of Remembrance," laying afresh personal recollections of the horrific atrocities of the Holocaust so that we will never forget the victimized and the victimizers.  Set fifty years after the actual Holocaust, the play reminds us how anti-Semitism still lurks in human hearts in our current global surroundings.  The gift of remembering through this remarkable play becomes a powerful antibiotic against the plague of anti-Semitism of yesteryear, aware that it still resides among us today and tomorrow.”

- ​Pastor Daniel B. Ward, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church
“In creating a wider audience for this important poet’s work, Mirage Theatre not only honors those who perished at the hands of the Nazis, but also anyone who struggles today to understand how civilized society can reach such depths of horror.”  

- Alan Goldsmith, Manager of Senior               Programming, JCC of Dutchess County
“The Fellowship is proud to have been part of the early development phase of this project, and supports Mirage Theatre's on-going efforts to further develop it and bring it to wider and wider audiences. We believe that events like "Distant Survivors" can help us all remember what happened during the Holocaust, to recognize the fact that we have, individually and collectively, the power to confront evil and possibly to prevent future atrocities.”

​- Pat Lamanna, Social Justice Committee Chair, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie
“The play is a powerful response to the Holocaust.  It uses the poetry of one of our leading English language poets of the day to create a memorable and moving experience.  But its importance is not confined to its dramatic excellence.  In an era of mounting denials of the historicity of the Holocaust, June Prager's play offers an opportunity to educate new sub-communities within our English-speaking cultural sphere about the horrors of the Nazi program of dehumanization and genocide.”   

​- Dr. Michael Panitz, Rabbi, Temple Israel, Norfolk, VA and Professor of Religion, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
“We were honored that you allowed us to participate in this great production.”

- ​Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, Jewish Community Center of Dutchess County/Hudson Valley Community Center


​Distant Survivors, published by Blue Moon Plays, is available for productions and touring.
​Contact us at juneprager.mirage@gmail.com or at (347) 668-7666.