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NEVER IS NOW

What happens when people from diverse backgrounds experience the firsthand accounts of ten survivors who were labeled "undesirable" and thrust into Hitler’s systematic genocide.

Playwright Wendy Kout disturbingly links then and now so we may understand what breaks us apart and embrace what bonds us together. NEVER IS NOW is just the beginning of the conversation.

Adapted from Survivors by Wendy Kout commissioned, developed and produced by the CenterStage Theatre at the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester, Ralph Meranto, Artistic Director.

Press

Read LA Theatre Best Bests - Los Angeles Times review
Read the Jewish Journal article
Read Splash Magazine's interview with Wendy
Watch the Spectrum 1 on air story

Splash Magazine
“Intense and electrifying - NEVER IS NOW asks a host of thought-provoking questions. But, perhaps more importantly, it does so through glimpses of the very personal lives of people forced to experience the events in these tumultuous times.”
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Stage Raw
“Top Ten - Recommended. Never is Now says it best: ‘We tell the truth and inspire others to keep fighting’... A cast diverse in age, race, ability, and sexuality — remarkably differentiates among their various roles.”
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BroadwayWorld
“Go see it. An extremely rare moment in time in which a portion of history… is presented in a very unique unveiling. The voice is different and you will be different for seeing it”
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Better Lemons
“This is a theatre experience that you will be thinking about long after the curtain falls. I know I was.”
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Stage and Cinema
“Very powerful...very important play. Moving performances”
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Larchmont Buzz
“Never Is Now plays a role in ensuring we will 'Never Forget.’ Personal stories...employing projections to powerful effect.”
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Hollywood Times
“Wendy Kout’s daring play within a play illuminates today’s ugly realities while recounting the dark legacy of the Nazi genocide. Find the time this weekend and see this powerful production.”
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Night Tinted Glasses
“Does more than tug at the heart strings, actually beating on one's heart like a drum… Savor the raw, seemingly effortless flow of story... It moves us, as it should. As it must.”
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Joe Straw
“Run! Run! Run! ... A fascinating night of theatre… quietly beautiful and wonderfully effective. Wendy Kout’s work cries out for an awakening, mostly for the people who turn their heads or tune out the unpleasantness around them.”
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Purdue study
“A research study conducted by a Purdue Convocations staff member has found that live theater can be used as a teaching tool to enhance student learning and retention of information — and even levels of empathy.”
Read The Full Study

We Are the Levinsons

Rosie, a comedy writer with mother issues, surprises her parents with a trip home. And life surprises Rosie with losing her mother, moving in with her grieving father, hiring a live-in transgender caregiver and being confronted with her own daughter’s mother issues. Sanity, survival and humor are tested and love is deepened in this three generation family and chosen family comedy/drama.

Awards

2017 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards
BEST PLAY and BEST ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY.

Press

STAR TRIBUNE VARIETY
“Best of the Week!”

Renee Valois, PIONEER PRESS
“Powerful & touching world premiere with humor & heart… wonderful laughs & likeable characters that imbue us with hope.”
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Arthur Dorman, TALKIN’ BROADWAY
“…it is a funny play, and genuinely funny plays are hard to find. It is also a thoughtful play, and a heartfelt play that delves into some difficult but fairly universal passages of life.”
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Naked in Encino

Five diverse women gather at a self-help seminar to question life, death and liposuction. All hell and humor erupt, surprises and secrets shock and though no pat answers are provided, there is solace in sisterhood.

Awards

Winner of Four Marlowe Awards Including:
BEST NEW PLAY, BEST PRODUCTION COMEDY, BEST DIRECTOR COMEDY, BEST ACTRESS COMEDY

Press

Carol White Llewellyn, RCTV
"Lavishly laced with both laugh out loud comedy and just the right touch of poignancy and pathos, this is a not-to-be missed play…"

Adam Lubitow, CITY NEWSPAPER
"… it makes for a perfectly entertaining evening of theatre."

Craig Williamson, NORTH DENVER TRIBUNE
"...engaging, unpredictable..."

Survivors

The New York Times reports a recent survey finds the Holocaust is fading from memory. The study also finds "all students should learn about the Holocaust at school".

Survivors answers that concern and that call. Commissioned by CenterStage Theatre, Rochester, NY, this hour long, educational and inspiring drama enacts the story of the Holocaust through eye-witness testimony of ten survivors. A young cast are our guides on this perilous journey. So, we see the young survivors as they experience their frightening ever-changing world. Suitable for young adult and adult audiences, this play about the past is a warning and a wake up call for the present and the future. Never forget! Never again! Never is now!

The ten survivors' actual testimony can be viewed on this historic web archive, www.rochesterholocaustsurvivors.org, which was developed by the Center for Holocaust Awareness and Information (CHAI) of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Rochester, NY.

Watch the trailer

For information on how to book Survivors at your school, stage or venue: click here.

Awards

Chosen for Presentation
2017 Alliance for Jewish Theater Conference, Boston, MA

Press

ABC News - Rochester, NY
"...a new take on teaching..."
Watch Conversations with Creatives Survivors Interview
Watch ABC News Rochester report on Survivors
Read about the world-premier performance of Survivors
Read the Democrat & Chronicle review
Watch the Rochester First interview

My Town

A modern, tragi-comic re-imagining of Thornton Wilder’s classic, Our Town. Goodbye white, provincial Grover’s Corners. Hello sprawling multi-ethnic Los Angeles, where badass, black Emily, chaser of the Hollywood dream, meets stoner, Jewish Josh, chaser of skirts. Times, technology, gender roles and race relations change but struggle through life, love, and loss remain our human condition.

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas

Co-written with Michele Willens

This drama laced with wit is set in Hollywood and Washington and follows the infamous 1950 Senate race that first brought entertainment and politics together. That’s when a young Richard Nixon falsely accused his opponent, the beautiful, liberal congresswoman, wife of Melvyn Douglas, and ex-Broadway star, Helen Gahagan Douglas, of being a Communist.

Nixon earned the name “Tricky Dick,” Helen was dubbed the “Pink Lady.” He ascended to the Presidency… until Watergate. She was forgotten… until now. Hubris has a tragic cost for both flawed heroine and complicated villain. And politicians’ dirty tricks continue to cost us all.

Awards

Finalist
O’Neill National Playwrights Conference

SHORT PLAYS

Ten Minutes that Changed the Country

A ten-minute history of resistance and protest told by famous, infamous and unknown citizens, who shaped our nation. An inspiring reminder that to sustain our democracy, we must participate in democracy.

Destination Thanksgiving

A ten-minute play told in real time where an embittered divorcee drives her equally embittered daughter to their family Thanksgiving dinner. What a difference a drive together can make.

P.S. I’m a proud card-carrying member of Dramatists Guild of America and Writers Guild of America. I'm also a proud member of the National New Play Exchange. View my NPX page.

Also honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the award-winning and inclusive Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Join us for timely and powerful new plays!

Also honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre. Are you a theatre artist writing or producing work with Jewish characters or themes? Join us!