David Strathairn and Melissa Friedman to Star in Staged Reading of Hannah and Martin

On Wednesday, November 17 at 7 p.m., the Epic Theatre Ensemble will present a staged reading of Kate Fodor's acclaimed play Hannah and Martin at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. David Strathairn and Melissa Friedman will star in this play about the controversial relationship between Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt and her mentor and lover, Martin Heidegger, the renowned philosopher who used his fame and brilliance to help further the goals of the Nazi party.

Tickets are $10. Tickets are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202. All proceeds from this event benefit Epic Theatre Ensemble's 10th Anniversary Season and the Museum's educational programs.

About the Play
As a university student in the 1920s, Hannah had an affair with Heidegger, her married professor. When the Nazis came to power, Hannah was interned, arrested, and had to flee Germany. Heidegger stayed in Germany, joined the Nazi party, and gave speeches praising Hitler's philosophy. When the war ended Heidegger was banned from teaching, but Arendt, by then a respected professor, helped rescue his career. Based on letters between Arendt and Heidegger, the play focuses on a fictionalized confrontation between them after the war. Premiered in New York by Epic Theatre Ensemble in 2004, Variety calls the play "an impressive accomplishment - and a gift for audiences who would rather leave the theatre thinking long thoughts than scratching their bellies."
Zak Berkman, Founding Executive Director of Artistic Programming of the Epic Theatre Ensemble, said,
"We're thrilled to be partnering with the Museum and reuniting David Strathairn and Melissa Friedman in the roles they originated for this Epic 10th Anniversary reading. It's a landmark play for us- one that asks questions about accountability and forgiveness that are more timely today than ever."

About the Artistic Team and Cast
Kate Fodor is a recipient of the Kennedy Center's Roger L. Stevens Award, the National Theater Conference's Barrie Stavis Award, a Joseph Jefferson Citation, and an After Dark Award. Her play 100 Saints You Should Know was produced Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons and was part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's First Look Repertory of New Work. 100 Saints is published by Dramatists Play Service and anthologized in Smith & Kraus' New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2008. Kate's play Hannah and Martin was produced Off-Broadway by Epic Theatre Ensemble and has had productions in cities around the U.S. and abroad, including San Jose Repertory Theatre, Chicago's TimeLine Theatre, and London's Courtyard Theatre. Hannah and Martin has been published by Dramatists Play Service and anthologized in The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize: Six Important New Plays by Women from the 25th Anniversary Year. She is a lecturer in playwriting at the University of Pennsylvania.

Melissa Friedman is the co-founder of Epic Theater Ensemble and is their Executive Director of Education. Before co-founding Epic, Melissa worked as a Lead Teaching Artist with many NYC theaters including Roundabout Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy Of Music's Shakespeare Teaches program, and Theatre for a New Audience. As Epic's Education Director, she co-developed Epic's Citizen Artist curriculum. As an actor, she has appeared in many Off-Broadway productions including Much Ado About Nothing, as well as many Epic productions including Time and the Conways, Habitat, Einstein's Gift, A Hard Heart with Kathleen Chalfant, and A More Perfect Union. Her numerous regional Theater Productions include playing a witch to Victor Garber's Macbeth and Lady Mortimer in Henry IV with John Goodman. On behalf of Epic, Melissa received the 2009 Coming Up Taller Award from First Lady Michelle Obama at a White House ceremony.

David Strathairn is a Board Member with Epic Theatre Ensemble and has performed in their productions of Hannah and Martin by Kate Fodor and Beauty on the Vine by Zak Berkman. His films include L.A. Confidential, Silkwood, Eight Men Out, The Bourne Ultimatum, We Are Marshall, and Good Night and Good Luck. He recently won the Emmy Award for best supporting actor in a mini-series for his role in Temple Grandin. Upcoming films include The Whistleblower with Rachel Weisz and Vanessa Redgrave and Julie Taymor's much anticipated film version of The Tempest with Helen Mirren.

Director Ron Russell is co-founder and Executive Director of Company Development for Epic Theatre Ensemble. After acting as Founding Artistic Director of the nationally acclaimed Summer Theatre Enrichment Program at El Centro de Servicios in Lorain, Ohio, from 1992-1995, Ron founded UBI Rep Theatre in San Diego, then came to New York City as Education Director at Theatre for a New Audience. He has also directed extensively regionally and in NYC including 12 Off-Broadway productions (six for Epic, including Hannah and Martin, Einstein's Gift, and George Bernard Shaw's Widowers' Houses in a new adaptation he co-wrote with Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.). His teaching experience includes more than 50 educational locations, reaching more than 10,000 young people, and his work as an educator in NYC has been recognized by citations from the Municipal Arts Society and Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg.

Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, executive directors) is a company of artists and activists dedicated to creating theatrical events Off-Broadway and in New York City public schools that inspire vital dialogue about social issues. The ensemble, now in its 10th Season, has been awarded an OBIE, an Outer Critics, a Lucille Lortel, and Amnesty International award for their premieres of new plays including Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play, Nilaja Sun's No Child..., Judith Thompson's Palace of the End, and Kate Fodor's Hannah and Martin.

About the Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Museum's three-floor Core Exhibition educates people of all ages and backgrounds about the rich tapestry of Jewish life over the past century-before, during, and after the Holocaust. Special exhibitions include The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service, on view through September 5, 2011; Project Mah Jongg, on view through January 2011; and Fire in My Heart: The Story of Hannah Senesh, on view through August 7, 2011. It is also home to the award-winning Keeping History Center, an interactive visitor experience, and Andy Goldsworthy's memorial Garden of Stones. The Museum offers visitors a vibrant public program schedule in its Edmond J. Safra Hall and receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

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