European Premier of Janka at

The Parish of St. Cuthbert

 

Janice Noga stars in the Oscar Speace play about Holocaust survival and family.

 

(Edinburgh, Scotland) July 10, 2006 – Who will tell the next generation about the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust? As Holocaust survivors die this question is becoming more relevant.

 

One survivor was Janka Festinger. She died in 1994 taking her sad story to her grave.

The play, Janka, is a story written by her son Oscar Speace, the playwright and producer, based on a letter Janka penned in 1945 and discovered after her death. It’s Janka Festinger’s personal account of her life in Auschwitz and forced labor and the intimate account of her journey through the Holocaust and beyond.

 

The letter was written to her uncle in America just a few months after Janka’s liberation. The painful memories of sacrifice during the ordeal were so unthinkable Janka questions, “Is this a bad dream...did this really happen?”

 

The heart of the play is about the Holocaust experience and how the Nazi’s destroyed 63 members of one Jewish family from Sighet, Romania, and how the survivors picked up the remnants of their lives and started over.

 

The tale is about liberation and immigration, living the American Dream and growing old; as well as a story of survival and loss, religion and raising a family. It’s a story that will remain in your memory forever.

 

Actress Janice Noga brings Janka to life in a powerful performance that rides the roller coaster of life from birth to death. Noga is Janka’s Catholic daughter-in-law, which brings a truer sense of poignancy to her performance.

 

Imagine sitting in Janka’s living room and experiencing her joy and humor and love of life as she tells you of her journey through one of mankind’s most depraved periods of modern history.

 

Janka makes her European premier at the Parish of St Cuthbert Lindisfarne Room, 5 Lothian Road, Edinburgh on Monday, August 14, 2006 at 19:00.

 

Show dates are August 14-18 and August 20-26, 2006. Performance time for all shows is 19:00. Tickets prices: Adults £8.50, Students £6, Family £20. Call the Festival Fringe box office for tickets at 0131.226.0000.

For more information, contact the Janka Project.