The Manya Project

"The Manya Project"

Manya Frydman Perel (born in 1924) survived eight concentration camps including Auschwitz-Birkenau. She dedicated almost fifty years of her life to educating thousands of students on the horrors of Nazi crimes against humanity. Her death on July 29, 2020, inspired the foundation of “The Manya Project”, which pays homage to survivors by keeping their verbatim personal narratives about the Holocaust visually and aurally alive through theatrical performance. Manya was born in Radom, Poland and grew up with her parents, five brothers, and four sisters. After their ghetto was liquidated, her parents, two brothers and a sister were murdered in Treblinka. Two of Manya’s sisters and one brother survived the Holocaust.

Anthony Hostetter met Manya Frydman Perel while directing Auschwitz survivor Charlotte Delbo’s play, Who Will Carry the Word? in September 2008. Manya understood the importance of witnessing and supported theatre productions of Holocaust stories on-stage. Manya Frydman Perel’s gripping, personal testimony inspired Hostetter to create a work of documentary theatre titled Hell on Earth: Manya Frydman Perel’s Shoah Experience which actor Darby Pumphrey performed in 2018.

The five plays that make up “The Manya Project”, including Hell on Earth: Manya Frydman Perel's Shoah Experience performed by Darby Pumphrey; Girl in a Striped Dress: The Holocaust Story of Rosalie Lebovic Simon performed by Erica Gerold; Rella, Rose, and I: Elizabeth Ehrlich Roth's Story of Survival performed by Natalie Mullanaphy; I am Itkolo: The Story of Itka Frajman Zygmuntowicz performed by Janea Hundley; and Try to Survive: Rose Ickowicz Rechnic's Memory of the Holocaust performed by Isabella Regruto; are available for performance for schools, colleges, and other groups. These plays are suitable for teenage to adult audiences.

These five plays present the survivor’s experiences in their own words. These documentary theatre pieces seek to keep survivor stories alive and embodied into the future. This project seeks to pay homage to Holocaust victims; educate audiences; raise moral questions for discussion and reflection; and help audiences draw a lesson of personal empathy from these historic narratives.

About the Author

Dr. Anthony Hostetter is a professor and the Director of Theatre for the Department of Theatre and Dance at Rowan University. He is the creator of Holocaust documentary theatre works that incorporate the verbatim testimony of Holocaust survivors. He created and directed four new one-woman plays (Rella, Rose, and I: Elizabeth Ehrlich Roth's Story of Survival, I am Itkolo: The Story of Itka Frajman Zygmuntowicz, Try to Survive: Rose Ickowicz Rechnic's Memory of the Holocaust, and Girl in a Striped Dress: The Holocaust Story of Rosalie Lebovic Simon) which received their world-premieres at Rowan University on April 27 and 28, 2022. Anthony wrote and directed the 2018 production of Hell on Earth: Manya Frydman Perel's Shoah Experience.  The next play in the series is  a full-length work, Five Survivors Tell the World, which premiered at Rowan University in November 2023. He is currently writing a new play based on the Holocaust experience of former partisan fighter Sidney Simon (who was married to Rosalie Simon). In February of 2013, he staged Charlotte Delbo’s challenging holocaust play, Who Will Carry The Word? at Rowan University. This production was restaged in January 2014 as an invited production to the Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, where it was recognized by the Kennedy Center for “Distinguished Ensemble Achievement.” He also directed the production at Temple University (2008) and a Center City Philadelphia production (2009). Hostetter recently published an article on the subject of creating Holocaust theatre titled, “Embodying History: Preserving Memories of Holocaust Survivors Through Performance” in Critical Stages/ Scenes Critiques.