Wiesel's play makes American debut

A man has a painful decision: Choose to kill one of two men selected at random. If he does not choose, he and 30 others will be killed. This decision, forced upon a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust by a Nazi commander, illustrates the premise of the play "Once Upon a Time" by Elie Wiesel. A message of love and perseverance under the worst of circumstances shapes Wiesel's play, which made its American debut at the Boston University Tsai Performance Center last night. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student Guila Kessous translated and directed the play, originally written by Wiesel. Kessous said she worked with Wiesel, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize and a University Professors Program professor since 1976 to create the production. Set in Nazi Germany, the play uses a combination of song, dance and video to tell the story of the man's decision. "It was sensitive to the subject, while addressing other subjects I haven't yet seen in other plays about the Holocaust," said Caryn Silverman, a friend of Kessous. A brief speech by Associate Provost Douglas Sears, on behalf of President Robert Brown, and an introduction by Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants executive director Richard Chacon on behalf of Gov. Deval Patrick introduced the play. "Sometimes even treasures can be painful . . . [this] is an important reminder of the human spirit," Chacon said. Other attendees in the debut included the Consul of Israel in Boston and the president of the American Association of the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston. The cast of the play ranged from a rabbi to local elementary, middle school and university students. "Our cast is so diverse with members from 8 to 80 years old, Jewish and non-Jewish," Kessous said. The night ended with a candle ceremony, when Wiesel joined Kessous on stage to light a menorah. The observance was not only to celebrate Hanukkah but also to represent "peace, tolerance and love," Kessous said. "We considered the Holocaust from each person's point of view," Kessous said.