Intro
Acted at Triton’s auditorium on Thursday, March 13th for freshmen, and sophomores was the play “Terezin.” It is a violently yet sad depiction of life inside the Theresienstadt concentration camp during WWII. Terezin came onto the stage with the help of Chad Richard to educate about the holocaust, about the lives of those in concentration camps during the Holocaust, and what they had to endure.

The play itself was shown in a strong way with violence, bullying, starvation, language, and the unwavering voices of the actors portraying emotions from anger, to sadness, and hope.

Summary
Starring a day and night of six jewish children who live under the Nazi rule, they struggle to live and keep hope of one day returning back to their lives even in the face of war and oppression. In their strict and isolated lives, the children keep together to find comfort together except for Corinna, fearing the Nazi, instead turns with them for the chance of survival.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that the Red Cross is soon to visit and inspect the living conditions, so they are expected to perform and act like it is a “humane Ghetto” that they live in, hiding the harsh reality and horrors that constantly gnaw at them.
The play itself is a portrait of brutality and inside view into the lives of many who suffered in the camps.
Background
Chad Richard made it possible for the actors of Terezin to perform this beautiful play in front of some students at Triton.

Richard stated, “I had contacts with people involved in the play, and I had seen the play before it was really impactful, I wanted to try to get it to Triton. I worked with Mrs. Safley and Mr. Kelly to secure the visit. Because it is an intimate play I wanted it to be for a smaller audience so we focused on freshmen (most had just read the Holocaust book Night), Crimes Against Humanity students, theater students, and AP History students. After the play, during lunch, Crimes Against Humanity students will be setting up a display in the cafe and fielding questions about the play and genocide studies in general.”

The Triton Voice watched the play and learned Terezin is set on real events, and even writer of the play Anna Smulowitz has personal connections to it. After the end of the play Smulowitz talked to the audience, telling everyone what pushed her to write, which was her mother who was in a concentration camp and the millions who died. The character Corinna was based on her mother who turned to the sides of the Nazi for a chance at survival, as promised she wouldn’t be sent to die and she could stay at Terezin. Smulowitz feels for those who had to deal with her mother, yet her fear for survival and ¨look out for oneself¨ could be understandable due to the conditions she was in.

Many events from the play took place in real life, including a letter that was written at the end being real. That letter and its contents were real, from a boy who wrote about what really went on in these camps then hid the note, hoping one day someone would find it and bring to light what they really went through. She herself felt she could do that by incorporating a note found in Terezin into the play as a way to remember those who died and recognize they were real people who had lives and only wanted to go back home.

Production
The set of the production seemed more comfortable that what it may have been in real life. It was set in one of the rooms where people were imprisoned. In this room there was a bunk bed with blankets, mattresses, then there were what seemed to be two stretchers on the floor with small blankets over them. There was one bed for each prisoner here but in reality, with personal research, these rooms were very much crowded, and the beds shared for multiple people to sleep in. Often these beds may have had straw to lay over.
The ‘room’ seemed to be fairly organized throughout the play, but lacked sanitation, as the ‘bucket’ implied (excretion). The barracks were very often unsanitary, rats swarmed the place, there was lice, and disease ran through, adding to the bad conditions.

The clothes too, seemed to be accurate to what people actually wore in these camps. While the actors wore ripped rights, sweaters, pants, and skirts, the real prisoners wore blue and white striped uniforms. Though portrayed to be in bad condition, the Triton voice thinks perhaps similar uniforms could have been work, as to then show how controlled everything was.

Thoughts
Around the school Triton Voice wondered what students who saw the play had thought or if they were excited too. It was a chance to learn but also entertain, something we haven’t done here in a while.

¨I was there personally because it was the holocaust.¨ said Destiny Torres, a Triton freshman, when asked if she was excited to see Terezin.

She and many others were excited for this play when they heard about it, getting out of class to learn and watch this peculiar show. Everyone poured in quickly to the auditorium, trying to find good seats by their friends and peers to enjoy this time.

Before the play actually started Smulovitz talked to the audience, giving warnings of violence for anyone sensitive. Though the many portrayals of brutality showed throughout, many students actually did not think it was too bad at all.

Kiley Jones was one of the students who didn’t think the play was too bad, Jones shared, ¨I think it had violent scenes but it wasn’t necessarily all violent.¨