The New Conservatory Theatre Center presents My Brother’s Gift, an adaptation by Claudia Inglis Haas based on the writings and memoirs of Eva Geiringer Schloss and the poetry and paintings of Heinz Geiringer, directed by Andrew Nance, NCTC’s Director of Education Emeritus.
Based on the remarkable true story of Heinz Geiringer – Anne Frank’s neighbor and friend – we follow the story of a young artist and loving brother living in unacceptable circumstances. Through a mix of nostalgia, art and love, My Brother’s Gift reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit through artistic expression.
My Brother’s Gift tells the story of a young artist and loving brother living in unacceptable circumstances. A trained musician at just 15, Heinz is now forced to live in obscurity and silence, turning to painting and poetry to express his everyday anguish but also his belief in a better future. Through Heinz’s inspired paintings, his nostalgic love of life and the memories of his sister Eva, we are shown how art is part of our collective humanity and how it can help us cope, heal and give hope.
Founded in 1986, NCTC’s innovative YouthAware Productions help students and teachers engage with topics that would otherwise be difficult to cover in the classroom and better understand issues of equity and inclusion in a safe, engaging format. These performances have been performed in SFUSD and private schools throughout the Bay Area, and we are excited to welcome local SFUSD high school students to FREE weekday performances of My Brother’s Gift at NCTC thanks to the generosity of individual donors, Lesbians for Good of Horizons Foundation, Libitzky Family Foundation Fund, and LSP Family Foundation.
Playwright Claudia Inglis Haas (pronouns: she/her) has worked as a playwright, director, actress, and theater teacher. She has created theater in schools (including gyms and cafeterias), caves, nature centers, and libraries. Theater is everywhere. Claudia has published fifty plays that have been performed over 1500 times in every state in the United States and on five continents (South America and Antarctica are still being sought). Her plays have been popular in high school one-act festival competitions, and the ten-minute plays are regularly used for forensics.
Director Andrew Jordan Nance (pronouns: he/him) is the founder and lead trainer of Mindful Arts San Francisco (MASF). In addition, he provides trainings and assemblies for libraries, schools, and school districts worldwide to teach students and staff the principles of mindfulness. His mindfulness trainings have come from Mindful Schools, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Omega, and Esalen. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, he served as Conservatory Director of the New Conservatory Theater Center for nearly two decades, providing educational theater experiences to thousands of youth and adults in the Bay Area. He is the author of four popular mindfulness books: PUPPY MIND, MINDFUL ARTS in the CLASSROOM, THE LION IN ME, published by Parallax Press and distributed by Penguin Random House. THE BAREFOOT KING, published by Shambhala /Bala Books, was released in June 2020. For more information, visit andrewjnance.com or mindfulartssf.com.
Eva Schloss (pronouns: she/her) is an Austrian-English Holocaust survivor, memoirist, and stepdaughter of Otto Frank, father of Margot and diarist Anne Frank. Schloss speaks extensively about her family’s experiences during the Holocaust and is a participant in the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive project, which records video responses for use in teaching materials. She has authored three books (The Promise, Eva’s Story, and After Auschwitz) and is co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust in the UK.
The cast of My Brother’s Gift includes Michael Carroll (Pappy), Rebecca Grintsaid (Mom), Yamini Jain (Eva), Skyler Riordan (Heinz), Zoe Chien (understudy) and Danny Georiev (understudy). The creative team includes lighting design by Nic Candito, set direction by Liam Kirk, costume design by Anthony Lopez, sound design by Kaitlin Rosen, prop and set design by Matt Owens, technical direction by Alan Huang and production supervision by Toni Quidry.
The New Conservatory Theatre Center has been San Francisco’s premier institution for LGBTQ+ and related performing arts and a conservatory for progressive arts education since 1981. The NCTC is known for its diverse offering of innovative, high-quality productions, touring productions, and shows for young audiences, its foundational anti-bullying work with youth and educators through YouthAware, and its commitment to developing new plays to continue to expand the canon of queer and related theatre work.
This YouthAware production of My Brother’s Gift will be performed on Sundays, October 6, 13, 20 and 27 at 1 p.m. and is a unique experience for children ages 10 and up. Tickets for these performances in NCTC’s Tucker Theater are $19.50-$24.50 (including fees) and are available at nctcsf.org, by emailing [email protected] or by calling (415) 861-8972. Each performance also includes a post-show discussion with the cast.
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