Prime Stage Theatre tells the story of those children and one of their extraordinary teachers in Celeste Raspanti’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly & The Terezin Promise, running for seven shows February 28 – March 9, 2025, at New Hazlett Theater.

What made the murderous Terezin concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia was uniquely sinister in its propaganda use as a “model” community showcasing Jewish artists, writers, composers, and musicians forced to give performances and teach lessons to the thousands of children imprisoned with them.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly & The Terezin Promise portrays the efforts of Austrian artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, who taught children to make poems and drawings that told the true horrors of the camp.

Before she was taken away to be killed at Auschwitz, Dicker-Brandeis entrusted fellow Terezin tutor Raja Englanderova with two suitcases containing 4,500 poems and drawings. The artwork was saved and is nowhoused in the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Directed by Prime Stage Theatre artistic director Wayne Brinda, I Never Saw Another Butterfly & TheTerezin Promise is presented in partnership with Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum and Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh as part of the annual enGAGE Program using theatre to educate about the history and dangers of genocide.

“This year we are especially pleased to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of these camps and recognize the role of the liberators,” says Brinda, a certified Holocaust educator and museum teaching fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The troops who freed the prisoners were instrumental in preserving important historical documents.”

“These plays are truly uplifting,” notes Brinda. “We see Friedl’s passion, the children’s undaunted creativity, and the irrepressible power of Art to bring hope and healing into the darkest hours of the Holocaust.”

The cast includes Jackson Frazer, Eva Balodimas Friedlander, Molly Frontz, Sadie Karashin, Meredith Kocur, Arjun Kumar, Aaron Little, Holland Taylor, and Aftyn Tomaceski.

TICKETS AND DETAILS

Prime Stage Theatre presents I Never Saw Another Butterfly & The Terezin Promise at the  New Hazlett Theater from February 28 – March 9, 2025. Tickets at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36406/production/1208645

MORE INFO: https://primestage.com/education/engage-program

Categories: Arts and Ideas, Show Previews

Tags: Aaron Little, Aftyn Tomaceski, Arjun Kumar, Celeste Raspanti, Dr. Wayne Brinda, Eva Balodimas Friedlander, Holland Taylor, Holocaust, I Never Saw Another Butterfly & The Terezin Promise, Jackson Frazer, Meredith Kocur, Molly Frontz, New Hazlett Theater, Prime Stage Theatre, Sadie Karashin