Leopoldstadt Symposium
Dec 1, 10am – 12pm
The Forum at Harman Hall
Join us for a symposium to discuss the issues represented in Leopoldstadt with prominent historians, religious leaders, and theatre artists.
Leopoldstadt, the latest Tony and Olivier Award-winning masterpiece from Tom Stoppard, is his most personal play. It is also one that poses what he might call “the hard question” about Jewish identity and assimilation. Can Jews, and other members of historically marginalized groups, ever fully assimilate into a dominant society? And if they do, do they erase where and who they come from?
Panel 1: Leopoldstadt, Vienna, and the Jews
This panel will discuss the play’s setting, fin-de-siècle Vienna, and the unique relationship of the city’s Jewish population to Viennese culture and modernism.
Panelists:
Carey Perloff, Leopoldstadt director
Steven Beller, historian and author of Vienna and the Jews: 1867-1938 (Cambridge University Press, 1991)
Moderator:
Drew Lichtenberg, STC Artistic Producer and Dramaturg
Panel 2: The Diaspora and Modern Jewish Identity
This panel will discuss the complexities of modern Jewish identity. Hayley Finn, artistic director of Theater J, will join us to discuss her production of Prayer for the French Republic and the French-Jewish experience. Joshua Maxey, the Executive Director of Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Synagogue, will speak about the experience of modern Jewish identity, particularly for BIPOC Jews.
Panelists:
Hayley Finn, artistic director of Theater J
Joshua Maxey, executive director of Bet Mishpachah
Moderator:
Drew Lichtenberg, STC Artistic Producer and Dramaturg