John Turturro Leads Staged Reading at the Museum of Jewish Heritage 11/7

On November 7, at 7 p.m., the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and the Centro Primo Levi present the English premiere of The Mark of the Chemist, a staged reading starring John Turturro (O Brother, Where Art Thou) as Primo Levi and featuring New Yorker critic Joan Acocella and a soundscape by composer and guitar virtuoso Marco Cappelli (Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers). This program is part of the Primo Levi Forum 2011 (www.primolevicenter.org).

Tickets are $20, $15 for Museum and Centro Primo Levi members and are available online at www.mjhnyc.org or by calling the Museum box office at 646.437.4202.

Primo Levi's Holocaust writings (Survival in Auschwitz, The Periodic Table), have always borne the stamp of his training as a chemist. Acclaimed actor John Turturro, who portrayed Levi in the film The Truce, will once again take on the role of Levi in this piece inspired by the author's eloquent scientific works.

Natalia Indrimi, director of Centro Primo Levi, said, "Primo Levi was a chemist by trade and a chemist out of deep passion. This staged reading reveals a fullness of vision and the myriad of nuances that continue to make his ideas relevant to new generations and people of all cultures."

About Primo Levi

Primo Levi (1919-1987) is considered one of the best-known 20th century Italian writers. His works have sold more than 12 million copies and have been translated into 24 languages. His unique blend of humanistic vision and scientific thought has reached an extraordinarily diverse audience. Mostly known for his memoirs about his experience in Auschwitz, Primo Levi also frequently expressed himself as a scientist on fundamental topics ranging from the atomic bomb to the ethical responsibility of scientists.

Levi's first book was his memoir of life in Auschwitz, If This is a Man. The works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that followed, published while he was working as a chemist, are a testimony to the originality of his thought. Levi's interests were broad and his commitment as a "political being" unequivocal. He spoke about the Shoah as an eyewitness. He never stopped observing the contemporary world and what he called its "structural defects" as part of the public dialogue. Whether exploring Judaism, art, or science, his perceptiveness and startling sense of humor were unmistakable.

About the Program

Domenico Scarpa, a highly respected literary scholar from the University of Pisa, has curated the reading based on Levi's renowned books, interviews, and short stories. The reading is also scheduled to be presented at the Teatro Stabile in Turin for the 25th Anniversary of Primo Levi's death.

John Turturro and Joan Acoccella, as Primo Levi and the interviewer, will engage in an intense exchange. Levi talks about his fascination with knowledge, the discovery of the world, and the secrets of matter. In the course of the reading, Primo's roles of witness of the Nazi death camps, narrator, poet, scientist, and laboratory technician overlap and merge into the voice of a great writer. Levi is able to find place and time for the full spectrum of life as he has painfully discovered it: the perversions perpetrated in the laboratories of Auschwitz stand next to the challenges and joys of work.

About the Performers

Emmy-award winning actor John Turturro has appeared in over 60 films and several television shows. His distinguished acting career includes starring roles in critically acclaimed films such as Quiz Show, Do the Right Thing, The Color of Money, The Big Lebowski, and his most recent film, Pasione. He received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his work in Barton Fink. Mr. Turturro studied at SUNY New Paltz and received an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Joan Acocella has written for The New Yorker since 1992 and became the magazine's dance critic in 1998. She has written on dance, literature, and the arts for many publications, including the New York Times Book Review, Art in America, The New York Review of Books, and the Times Literary Supplement.

Guitarist Marco Cappelli has collaborated with a fascinating array of performers and played at top music festivals and venues including Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Ravenna Festival, and Salzburg Festival both as a soloist and with an ensemble. Among the founders of the acclaimed Italian contemporary music group Ensemble Dissonanzen, Cappelli currently lives in New York, where he is involved with the contemporary and avant*garde music scene. He is Guitar Professor at Conservatory Vincenzo Bellini in Palermo and Music Associate at Columbia University in New York. He has been Sharon Isbin's assistant at the Aspen Music Festival and School and a guest professor at Juilliard School. He has recorded three solo guitar CDs and several ensemble CDs.

Credits

Presented by Centro Primo Levi NY, Centro Internazionale di Studi Primo Levi Turin in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. This annual program celebrates the 5th International Primo Levi Forum and was generously established by Dr. Claude Ghez in memory of Nella and Giuseppe Treves.

About the Centro Primo Levi

Inspired by the humanistic legacy of writer and chemist Primo Levi, who survived Auschwitz and defined the place of memory in modern societies, Centro Primo Levi is dedicated to studying the history and culture of Italian Jewry, sharing beyond linguistic borders its current ferments and future perspectives. Centro Primo Levi provides an English language portal for Italian Jewish studies and community news connecting the Italian Jewish worlds in Italy, Israel, and the US. Based at the Center for Jewish History in New York, CPL serves academia and the general public through resources, programs, networking, exchange opportunities, and educational initiatives.

About the Museum

The Museum's exhibitions educate people of all ages and backgrounds on the rich tapestry of Jewish life over the past century-before, during, and after the Holocaust. Current special exhibitions include: Yahrzeit: September 11 Remembered, on view through October 26, 2011 and Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race, on view through January 16, 2012. Upcoming exhibitions include Emma Lazarus: Poet of Exiles, opening October 26. 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.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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