James Madison University

Poster by Richard Hilliard

Letters to Sala, Nov. 9-13

Letters to Sala by Arlene Hutton
Based on the book "Sala's Gift" by Ann Kirschner

Nov. 9–13, 2010 ♦ Tuesday–Saturday @ 8 p.m.
Mainstage Theatre

In October 1940, 16-year-old Sala Garncarz leaves her home in Sosnowiec, Poland, and volunteers for six weeks of forced labor in a Nazi work camp in order to spare her ailing sister. Five years and seven camps later, Sala is liberated.

While in the camps, Sala writes and receives hundreds of letters from her family and friends, "Because as long as you read, we are together." Sala hides these letters, which is forbidden. Half a century later, she shares them with her daughter. Time and place overlap and two worlds become one on the stage in this poignant real-life tale of survival.

Dialogue: Resistance and Heroism, Mapping the Holocaust Story
Tuesday, Nov. 9 ♦ 5 p.m.
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Ann Kirschner, Sala Garncarz's daughter and the author of the book Sala's Gift. Location TBA. Free of charge.

Exhibit:
In conjunction with the production, an exhibit entitled Letters to Sala: A Young Woman's Life in Nazi Labor Camps will be on display in the Mainstage Theatre lobby through the month of November.

The exhibit is based on a compelling collection of rare Holocaust-era letters and photographs now in the New York Public Library Dorot Jewish Division. From handwritten postcards to photographs and official documents, each was saved at great personal risk by Sala Garncarz from the time she entered her first of seven Nazi labor camps in 1940 until her liberation in 1945. The collection and narrative provide a rare firsthand view into the human drama that unfolded among Jews forced to work as slave laborers and those who loved and wrote them as long as they could. This traveling exhibition was inspired by Letters to Sala: A Young Woman's Life in Nazi Labor Camps, presented at The New York Public Library from March 7 to June 17, 2006.

Letters to Sala, a real-life tale of survival

Support has been provided by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the French Children of the Holocaust Foundation, The David Berg Foundation and by the Robert and Trudy Gottesman Philanthropic Fund. Unless otherwise indicated, the letters, photographs and documents in the exhibition are drawn from the Sala Garncarz Kirschner Collection, donated by the Kirschner family in April 2005, to the Dorot Jewish Division of The New York Public Library. Traveling Exhibition Curator: Jill Vexler, Ph.D., Traveling Exhibition Design: Monk Design, New York.

Mailing Tickets/Will Call —Tickets that are ordered more than two weeks in advance of a performance will be mailed to the address on file. Ticket orders received less than two weeks prior to a performance will be held for pick-up at the Will Call window.

Ticket prices: $11–$14

JMU Student Tickets: JMU Students can purchase advance and day of discounted tickets at the Forbes Center Box Office. Student tickets are not available online. One (1) ticket per ID. Credit cards, checks, cash and JACards are accepted. Student Price: $11

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