Holocaust Memorial Center hosts 'Soap Myth' online reading and discussion
A Zoom conversation with playwright Jeff Cohen and Detroit News film critic Adam Graham is set for 2 p.m. Sunday
Award-winning playwright Jeff Cohen is heralding the importance of listening to Holocaust survivors while they're still living.
Well-known stage and screen actors Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh star in a PBS concert reading of his play, "The Soap Myth," hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus. It was filmed last January in New York and is viewable online now.
This Sunday, watch a Zoom conversation between playwright Jeff Cohen and Detroit News film critic Adam Graham.
"The Soap Myth" is set 50 years after the end of World War II and tells the story of an elderly Holocaust survivor, Milton Saltzman, who believes the Nazis turned the fat of murdered Jewish people into soap.
He teams up with a young investigative journalist in hopes that historians and museums recognize his eyewitness account. The play also delves into the evils of antisemitism and Holocaust denial in present day.
"In the power of live theater lives a certain immortality," said Cohen in a press release about the virtual performance. "Five years from now, 50 years from now, 150 years from now — when an actor portrays Milton Saltzman, Milton is alive. For those 90 minutes, Milton lives in all his rage and all his sorrow and all his stubborn refusal to be silenced. And when Milton lives, rest assured, he will not let the audience forget the Holocaust."
The play's reading is viewable to watch online now at bit.ly/TheSoapMyth-play-on-PBS.
Register in advance for the 2 p.m. Sunday Zoom webinar with Cohen and Graham at bit.ly/TheSoapMyth-HMC-event. Those with questions for Cohen or Graham can submit them by noon Tuesday at holocaustcenter.org/questions.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @melodybaetens
'The Soap Myth'
Online discussion with playwright Jeff Cohen and Detroit News film critic Adam Graham
2 p.m. Sunday
Register in advance: bit.ly/TheSoapMyth-HMC-event
Concert reading of the play online now: bit.ly/TheSoapMyth-play-on-PBS