Enacting History: A Practical Guide to Teaching the Holocaust through Theater / Edition 1

by Mira Hirsch, Janet E. Rubin, Arnold Mittelman

Overview

Enacting History is a practical guide for educators that provides methodologies and resources for teaching the Holocaust through a variety of theatrical means, including scripted texts, verbatim testimony, devised theater techniques and process-oriented creative exercises.

A close collaboration with the USC Shoah Foundation I Witness program and the National Jewish Theater Foundation Holocaust Theater International Initiative at the University of Miami Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies resulted in the ground-breaking work within this volume. The material facilitates teaching the Holocaust in a way that directly connects students to individual people and historical events through the art of theater. Each section is designed to help middle and high school educators meet curricular goals, objectives and standards and to integrate other educational disciplines based upon best practices. Students will gain both intellectual and emotional understanding by speaking the words of survivors, as well as young characters in scripted scenes, and developing their own performances based on historical primary sources.

This book is an innovative and invaluable resource for teachers and students of the Holocaust; it is an exemplary account of how the power of theater can be harnessed within the classroom setting to encourage a deeper understanding of this defining event in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138608740
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/29/2020
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mira Hirsch is Director of Education at Theatrical Outfit (Atlanta), a freelance professional theater director and an educational consultant for the National Jewish Theater Foundation.

Janet E. Rubin is a faculty member at Eastern Florida State College where she teaches Speech and Theatre and directs theater productions. She is Past President of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

Arnold Mittelman is President of the National Jewish Theater Foundation (NJTF) and Founding Director of NJTF Holocaust Theater International Initiative at the University of Miami Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies overseeing its research, production and education programs.

Table of Contents

List of images ix

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xv

How to use this book xvi

How to: scripted scenes and monologues xvii

How to: verbatim testimony historical narratives xxvii

How to: devised theater activities xxxvi

1 Propaganda, the growth of Nazism, the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht 1

Context 1

Scripted scenes and monologues 7

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 11

Devised theater activity 15

2 Perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders 19

Context 19

Scripted scenes and monologues 23

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 28

Devised theater activity 31

3 Ghettos 33

Context 33

Scripted scenes and monologues 39

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 45

Devised theater activity 49

4 Concentration and extermination camps 51

Context 51

Scripted scenes and monologues 61

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 69

Devised theater activity 74

5 Fleeing and hiding 76

Context 76

Scripted scenes and monologues 81

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 89

Devised theater activity 94

6 Resistance 97

Context 97

Scripted scenes and monologues 100

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 104

Devised theater activity 109

7 Liberation 112

Context 112

Scripted scenes and monologues 115

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 121

Devised theater activity 126

8 Nazi war crimes and judgment 131

Context 131

Scripted scenes and monologues 138

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 143

Devised theater activity 147

9 Survivors and subsequent generations 150

Context 150

Scripted scenes and monologues 155

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 164

Devised theater activity 166

10 Deniers and denial 168

Context 168

Scripted scenes and monologues 170

Verbatim testimony historical narratives 174

Devised theater activity 177

About the plays 180

Works cited 185

Index 191

Editorial Reviews

I strongly recommend a new teaching guide- Mira Hirsch, Janet E. Rubin and Arnold Mittelman, Enacting History: A Practical Guide to Teaching the Holocaust through Theater (Routeldge, 2020). As far as I know, it is the first book of its kind to integrate both lesson plans and theatrical materials for teachers of the Holocaust in middle and high schools. Each chapter begins with the historical context and each lesson provides directions on how to use the theatrical material to advance the students understanding of the history. It includes verbatim testimony, scripted scenes and monologues and best practices for performing them. This is a major contribution to our pedagogical toolbox.

Dr. William (Bill ) Shulman - recently retired President of the Association of Holocaust Organizations.

From the Publisher