Sighet Online

 

American actress Janice Noga to perform monodrama "Janka" written by Oscar Speace in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania

 

UPDATE: The show

 

Takes place on Saturday May 21 2011, 18:00 at Radio Sighet. Free admission. Show is organized by the "Nordic" in Sighetu Marmatiei Sighet in collaboration with Rotary Club - District 2241, which is preparing a Romanian version of the play, the translation by John J Smith, to be released in season theater 2011/2012.

 

   This unique event will be held at Sighetu Marmatiei on 21-22 May. Actress Janice Noga will present at the Radio Hall Sighet the monodrama "Janka" directed by the author Oscar Speace. The play describes the dramatic Holocaust experiences of Janka Festinger and the restoration of her life in America.

 

   "There is a moment in everyone's life where we know that after that, nothing will ever be the same," says director and playwright Oscar Speace.. "For some it’s the day they receive diploma and start their career, for others, it is the day of their marriage or the birth of their first child. For me, that day was in the summer of 1997 when I learned that my aunt had a letter from my mother, which recounts her journey and her two sisters journey in the Holocaust which began in May 15, 1944 in Sighet and carried them through Auschwitz, Dachau and Munich, and ended May 1, 1945 in a railway wagon when the Germans laid down their arms in front of American tanks. Married to an American soldier stationed in Germany – the first marriage officially recognized by the U.S. military - emigrating to the United States and settling in New Jersey in a small town not unlike Sighet where in 1948 she gave birth to twins - my brother David and me - whom she considered a symbol of victory over the Nazi Final Solution."

 

   Janka Festinger died in 1994 at the age of 77 years but her story remained to be told, told by her children David and Oscar in a documentary, the play that bears his name, written by Oscar Speace and recently in the book "Janka Festinger Moments of Happiness" by David D. Speace.  "Some stories need time to be spoken or written, others have experienced, inspired and expired, sometimes easily, sometimes with the weight and pain," says Janice Noga, who assumed the difficult part to recreate the drama “Janka.” Noga is a stage actress and singer whose career includes theatrical roles in "Zorba the Greek," "Mama Rose" and "Fiddler on the Roof.  Oscar Speace, is a producer, director and playwright recognized with over 550 theater, radio and TV programs.

 

OSCAR SPEACE Director, writer, producer and director at Valley PBS Television in Fresno, California, USA. For over 30 years he has produced and directed over 550 television and radio programs, the holder of two Emmy Awards.  The documentary "Janka: One Minute of Perfect Happiness" won a "Telly". Writing career includes five screenplays ("The Station", "The Great Marble Shoot", "Ottawa Summer" and "The Last Hanging").

 

JANICE NOGA Janice Noga Broadway actress, observed both in dramatic roles and in musicals such as "Zorba the Greek", "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Gypsy”.  She studied acting at the State University of Fresno, California. In addition to her stage career, Janice Noga is a founding member of "Valley Women's Theater".

 

Written by:  John J. Smith