Janka's Journey

Janka going home to Sighet, Romania

 

Valley Voices, The Fresno Bee, Other Opinions

 

by Oscar Speace

 

(April 30, 2011) Fresno, CA - It’s been an amazing experience telling my mother’s Holocaust story. We’ve touched many people who have supported this theatrical experience. We thank all of you for allowing us to take this journey.

 

            Janka Festinger Speace was from Sighet, Romania. This play which I’ve authored and is performed by my wife, Janice Noga, tells the story of how Janka was taken with her family and the Jews of Sighet to Auschwitz and to slave labor in Germany. We’ve been invited to do a command performance of Janka at Radio Hall in Sighet, Romania by Johnny Popescu, a Romanian journalist and member of Asociatia Nordica. It will be a journey of reconciliation and it makes me wonder what my mother would think if she were alive today – that her son and daughter-in-law are making this trip to her hometown.

 

            We’ve been touring Janka since 2003. We’ve performed the show all over the country to audiences that have been receptive and moved beyond words. It’s been a long journey of love and discovery.

 

            At the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, in December, the temperature outside was close to freezing when the performance began at 8pm… when we left the theater at 10:30pm it was 5 degrees above zero. We had an audience of 450 people on that cold night.

 

            In Centralia, Washington we had terrific press the day before the performance. Centralia College told us that they usually had about 50 people attend this type of event. We had to hold the curtain for 25 minutes while 125 chairs were added to the small black box theater. It became theater in the round. The audience was so close Jan could reach out and touch them. The audience stayed for an hour asking questions about Janka’s story.

 

            We’ve done a number of Holocaust memorial programs. In Brigantine, New Jersey we performed at the Brigantine Library. Since Janka immigrated to New Jersey after the war, many of our family still live in New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York and Ottawa, Canada. They all came to see the performance. Again, it was an experience beyond description. Sandy, her sole surviving sibling, came to see the performance. He was moved beyond measure.

 

            And in Fresno… even though it was 115 degrees outside, we did four performances at Second Space to sold out audiences. Dan Pessano, we can’t thank you enough for your support. This enabled us to perform at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. We met a couple from London who had attended the festival every year for over 20 years. They told us that Janka was the best show that they’d seen in those 20 years. They’d seen over 100 Edinburgh Fringe Festival shows. This wonderful couple, who as children had survived the London blitz, felt an intimate connection with Janka’s story.

 

            Many of you in Fresno and the Central Valley have been on this journey with us. We’ve performed at the Fresno Art Museum, Second Space, Wilson Theater, Valley Public Television, Fresno State, Fresno Pacific University, Temple Theater in Hanford, Front Row Theater in Oakhurst and The Studio in North Fork as well as numerous High Schools. Your support for this project has been overwhelming and both Jan and I thank you for allowing us to tell Janka’s story.

 

            Janka and The Janka Project are a partnership of The Fresno Arts Council. Your contribution will help us to continue to tell Janka’s story. The Fresno Arts Council is located at 1245 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93721