Open Space Arts/Arts Judaica, in association with Her Story Theatre, today announced it will stage THE BERLIN DIARIES, by three-time Oregon Book Award-winning playwright Andrea Stolowitz, from December 20, 2024, through January 5, 2025. THE BERLIN DIARIES follows Stolowitz’s quest to learn about her extended Jewish family, who lived in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party before emigrating to New York City in 1939. When Andrea receives her late great-grandfather’s diary recounting the family’s life in Berlin before World War II, she sees its potential as a play. After she receives a commission to write the play, she is off to Germany to find answers to questions the diary leaves unanswered. And though her parents’ generation had believed their family’s Holocaust story was unremarkable, as they had all escaped the Nazis, Andrea finds the impact of the Holocaust on the family was much more profound. In the process of her research, she gains a deeper connection to her family and to Germany as her native homeland. Izadorius Tortuga, who recently received a BFA in directing at from Carnegie Mellon University and has design and acting credits with many Chicago storefront theaters, will direct. THE BERLIN DIARIES will open to the public and the press on Friday, December 20, 2024.
Tortuga’s two-person cast will play all characters and will even share certain characters. Cast as Andrea and others is Eliana Deckner-Glick, a recent graduate of The Theatre School in Chicago, who appeared in BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE with The Imposters. Andrea’s grandfather Max and other characters will be played by Artem Kreimer, whose credits include the US Premiere of A WOLF IN THE RIVER, written and directed by Adam Rapp (Flea Theatre, NYC), and A DOLL’S HOUSE at Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Sam Gold. Kreimer will appear in Open Space Arts ‘production of MERCY KILLING. The production team includes Viscaya Wilson (Scenic and Graphic Design), Valerio Gardner (Sound Design), Gabe Seplow (Lighting Design), Sean Smyth (Stage Manager).
Eliana Deckner-Glick, Artem Kreimer
THE BERLIN DIARIES was on the 2019 Kilroy’s List, is the recipient of the NYFA/NYC Mayor’s office award for Theater, Film and TV, and was produced at English Theater Berlin/International Performing Arts Center in Berlin, Germany; and in Portland, Oregon by Hand2Mouth Theatre. It was originally developed and produced at English Theatre Berlin/International Performing Arts Center (Artistic Director, Daniel Brunet). Further development was provided by Orlando Shakespeare Festival, The New Harmony Project, PlayPenn, and New Dramatists. THE BERLIN DIARIES audio drama was released through Artists Repertory Theater’s Mercury Company initiative.
Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, in Open Space Arts’s hyper-intimate 20-seats theater at 1411 W Wilson, in Chicago. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for students or seniors, and $15 for OSA members; and are on sale at https://openspacearts.org/ Information on all Open Space Arts events is available at https://openspacearts.org/ and Queer Expressions Film Fest events at https://openspacearts.org/qe-film-fest%2Fbest-of-fest.
OPEN SPACE ARTS, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is dedicated to combating homophobia and antisemitism through the transformative power of creativity and cultural expression. Our mission is to foster inclusivity, promote understanding, and empower marginalized communities by utilizing various artistic mediums to challenge discriminatory beliefs and attitudes. OSA has produced SUNSETS: TWO ACTS ON A BEACH, ROSENBERG, MASSAGE THERAPY, COCK, LIGHT SWITCH, MERCY KILLING, and THE KRAMER PROJECT in live performances, and produces the Queer Expressions Film Fest, a hybrid fest of streaming and in-person events, which runs from November 1 to July 1 annually. Open Space Arts is led by Directors Elayne LeTraunik and David Zak.
LISTING INFORMATION
Open Space Arts/Arts Judaica, in association with Her Story Theater, presents the Chicago Premiere of
THE BERLIN DIARIES
By Andrea Stolowitz
Directed by Izadorius Tortuga
December 20, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays 2 pm
Press Opening Friday, December 20, at 7:30 PM
Open Space Arts
1411 W. Wilson Ave.,
Tickets $25.00 ($20 for seniors and students, $15 for OSA members),
Tickets available at
Website: www.openspacearts.org
The great-grandfather of Oregon Book Award-winning playwright Andrea Stolowitz kept a journal for his descendants after escaping to New York City in 1939 as a German Jew. Following the complicated lure of genealogy, Stolowitz goes back to Berlin to bring the story of her unknown ancestors out of the archives into the light. The record keeps as many secrets as it shares; how do people become verschollen, lost, like library books?
BIOS
Andrea Stolowitz (Playwright) Andrea Stolowitz is an internationally produced playwright and librettist and a dual US/German citizen (reclaimed from her Jewish ancestry). Andrea is a three-time winner of the Oregon Book Award in drama. Her plays have been developed and presented nationally and internationally at theaters such as The Long Wharf, The Old Globe, The Cherry Lane, and New York Stage and Film. The LA Times calls her work “heartbreaking” and the Orange County Register characterizes her approach as a “brave refusal to sugarcoat issues and tough decisions.” Andrea’s work aims to use storytelling as the medium for deeper social understanding.
Andrea’s most recent work, ELEGY PLAY, was a commission from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in collaboration with New Dramatists. RECENT UNSETTLING EVENTS is a commission from Artists Repertory Theatre. The play was a finalist for the 2021 Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference, was the 2020 winner of the American Blues Theater Blue-Ink festival and won the 2020 Portland Civic Theatre Guild’s New Play Prize. Some of her other plays are ITHAKA, ANTARKTIKOS, and KNOWING CAIRO, which had its world premiere at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, and earned San Diego’s “Billie” Best New Play Award and an LA TIMES Critic’s Pick.
Izadorius Tortuga (Director) is incredibly excited to make his Chicago directing debut after spending the last four years away earning his BFA in directing at Carnegie Mellon University. Notable accomplishments there include directing a riveting production of SENDER by Ike Holter, devising an immersive, site-specific adaptation of DEATH OF ORPHEUS, producing a workshop reading of his new musical, 69 LOVE SONGS: A QUEER FANTASIA, and assistant directing the regional premiere of NATASHA, PIERRE, AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812. Since his recent return to the Windy City, he performed in New Wave Theatre Company’s inaugural production, THIS IS ART and served as properties designer for [TITLE OF SHOW] at PrideArts. Previously, Izadorius has collaborated with many companies across the city, including Theatre Above the Law, Links Hall, Prop Thtr, and Collaboraction. Special thanks goes out to all those who took him underwing throughout his youthful storefront theater endeavors.
About Open Space Arts
OPEN SPACE ARTS, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is dedicated to combating homophobia and antisemitism through the transformative power of creativity and cultural expression. Our mission is to foster inclusivity, promote understanding, and empower marginalized communities by utilizing various artistic mediums to challenge discriminatory beliefs and attitudes.
Open Space Arts illuminates contemporary and historical issues through film and live performances. OSA will perform where the arts can have the most impact. With the freedom to perform anywhere, from libraries, theaters, empty storefronts, and online, OSA can respond quickly to bring important issues to life. www.openspacearts.com.