Theater J to Tell the Story of the SS St. Louis in SOTTO VOCE

Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr announces that the theater will produce Sotto Voce by Nilo Cruz, as the first show of the 2017-18 season. The production will run from October 3-29, 2017.

The play concerns the ill-fated SS St. Louis, the ship of Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany only to be denied entry in both Cuba and the United States. Many of the passengers perished after the ship returned to Europe and the Nazi party overspread the continent.

Nilo Cruz's Sotto Voce centers on Bemadette, an elderly German writer who wants to forget her past, when a visit from a young Jewish-Cuban researcher brings haunting memories of her one true love, a passenger aboard the St. Louis. An exquisite, dreamlike sonata, this heartbreaking drama explores the resilience of love, the indelible power of memory, the sensuality of imagination, and the plight of desperate immigrants. Sotto Voce was commissioned and first produced by Theater for the New City with a Grant from the New York State Council of the Arts in February 2014 and had a brief yet celebrated run the following month at Miami-Dade County Auditorium's On.Stage Black Box theater.

"As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, Theater J exists to tell the stories of the outsider, the oppressed, and the forgotten" said Adam Immerwahr. "Nilo Cruz's Sotto Voce is a passionate and romantic play, written by one of our country's most lyrical and poetic writers. This is a story of lost love and of the plight of the refugee, and we as a theater felt compelled to share it now as our nation wrestles with the place of refugees and immigrants within our borders."

The events of the past weekend make this lyrical play and the events surrounding the SS St. Louis newly relevant and resonant. Amy B. Wang wrote in January 29's The Washington Post that "nearly eight decades after its doomed voyage, some drew parallels between the U.S. government's dismissal of the St. Louis and the possible consequences of President Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigration." The topic has been trending on Facebook and Twitter.

The play, written in English, is by Pulitzer Prize-winning (Anna in the Tropics) playwright Nilo Cruz. Born in Cuba, Cruz came to Miami with his family as a child. Among his plays are Beauty of the Father (2006), The Color of Desire (2010), Hurricane (2010) and Bathing in Moonlight (2016). His plays have been produced at New York's Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Pasadena Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and South Coast Repertory, among others.

Director José Carrasquillo will be directing the production. Carrasquillo has directed The Body of an American and After the Fall at Theater J. At GALA Hispanic Theater he has recently directed El Paso Blue, La Senorita de Tacna and Anna in the Tropics.

The rest of the 2017-18 season will be announced in several weeks. Subscriptions will go on sale on April 10, 2017 and single tickets will be available on July 1, 2017. Theater J's box office phone is 202-777-3210. Theater J is located at the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Visit TheaterJ.org.

Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines: ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.

The EDCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.