Channeling history at Henry Street Settlement Playhouse

If you are in NYC on August 8th, I invite you to a very special community performance of HAPPENINGS IN POLAND presented by Abrons Art Center's Urban Youth Theater (UYT) in the Henry Street Settlement Playhouse.

Reproduction of my grandmother's original first page of Happenings in Poland, with hand-drawn additions 

Abrons Arts Center

466 Grand Street

6:30 pm (doors at 6pm)

Discovered in the yellowing pages of a century-old journal, this play was handwritten by my grandmother, Rachel Meirowitch, a 16 year-old immigrant in New York in 1921.

My grandmother, who died in 1998, proudly spoke to me of a play that she wrote as a member of Henry Street Settlement's youth program and presented on the playhouse stage. 

I never knew I would find it!

I was taken aback when I read it: The story depicts a violent tragedy unfolding in a small Jewish community in Poland. 

Written and performed by teenagers to a New York audience 18 years before the Holocaust, it is hauntingly prescient.  

Since the fall of 2024, I have been working with Abrons Art Center's (the arts program of Henry Street Settlement) Urban Youth Theater to revisit, reimagine, and respond to my grandmother's play. 

The question: what does it mean to restage this play now in the very same location, more than a century later?

We have had a rotating ensemble of diverse teens stepping into this story, and exploring its difficult message, with sincerity, heart, and openness. 

Many of these teens, with immigrant histories of their own, had limited prior knowledge of the details of the Polish Jewish experience before the Holocaust. The amazing educational team at Abrons and the Urban Youth Theater's director have helped me create a safe space for reflection and dialogue about this fraught history and its relationship to current political events. While this was my grandmother's only play, she dedicated her life to community service, advocacy for the underserved, and political action. This extends her legacy. The restaging of this play, alongside a newly devised chapter written by the UYT teens, on the original Playhouse stage, is a dream in the making.  

The Playhouse, a grand, historical theater (built in 1915). Given the amount of production resources it requires, this is the first presentation ever of the Urban Youth Theater on the Playhouse stage. It is a result of many individuals at Abrons Art Center and Henry Street Settlement's belief in this project. Please come, bring a loved one, and bear witness - we want to fill this playhouse with community of all ages - neighbors and friends! 

This intergenerational research and performance project is being turned into a documentary work thanks to support from Asylum Arts/The Neighborhood, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Puffin Foundation, and NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship.  But there is only ONE CHANCE to see the historical live event of these kids performing my grandmother's play on the original playhouse stage! And we want bodies in the room to be present for this event and support this incredible teen ensemble. 

Co-directed by Jonathan Nathaniel Dingel-El and Michelle Levy

Developed with and performed by the Urban Youth Theater (UYT)

Produced by Abrons Art Center

With voice over narration by Bernice Levy

Pre-show behind-the scenes video + live introduction by Michelle Levy (me!) The performance (about 45 min) will be followed by a talk-back with the ensemble facilitated by the Abrons education team.

Ticket reservations (suggested donation $5-$35, but nobody turned away- please support this amazing program if you are able!) can be made here.

I hope to see you there!