Open Stage Announces First Annual "The Good at Heart Festival" March 14-19
Open Stage, a theatre company in downtown Harrisburg, will present its first annual The Good at Heart Festival from March 14-19. The six-day festival will feature performances and presentations centered on social and racial justice that ask thought-provoking questions and inspire meaningful community conversations.
The name of the festival is inspired by a famous quote from Anne Frank’s diary: “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” With Open Stage’s 23rd annual production of The Diary of Anne Frank as its centerpiece, the festival will celebrate Frank’s ideals and include additional programming that lifts her words and spirit.
The Good at Heart Festival will feature guests including Lillian Rappaport, who will share the story of her parents who were Holocaust Survivors, and Maria James-Thiaw, a founder of Reclaim Artist Collective. Additionally, the festival will include a co-production of a new play with Sankofa African American Theatre Company titled Janet Langhart Cohen's Anne & Emmett.
“The Good at Heart Festival is curated to explore important societal subject matter in a new way, and tell stories of yesterday with the hope that it creates a better tomorrow,” said Open Stage Artistic Director Stuart Landon. “Anne Frank wrote that she wanted her writing to live beyond her. And has it! It is a great responsibility, and an honor, to take on this story every year and explore all the stories that need to be told. We are thrilled to host this first annual event series on this important historical retelling and expand on important conversations around social justice.”
The Diary of Anne Frank will run for four days with morning matinees on March 14, 15 and 17 and one evening performance on March 15. As many as 4,000 students will see Anne Frank’s story at the Scottish Rite Cathedral for the morning matinees, with limited available seating for the public, and post-performance presentations by Holocaust expert Lilian Rappaport. The March 15 evening, ASL-interpreted performance is open to the general public.
Janet Langhart Cohen's Anne & Emmett will be presented March 17-26 on Open Stage’s Capital Blue Cross Main Stage and is a production of a new play by Janet Langhart Cohen. This co-production of Open Stage and Sankofa African American Theatre Company will explore what a conversation might be like between Anne Frank and Emmett Till from the beyond, or “in memory.” The play joins these two young teenagers who experienced parallel hate and explores the topics of race, the times they lived in and gender perspective.
“There will be moments where the audience will be uncomfortable,” says Sharia Benn, artistic director of Sankofa. “But we need to get into spaces where we go beyond just being uncomfortable — which leads us into silence and complacency — to where we can start to have healing, understanding and even acceptance that this happened. This is how it has impacted people, and that is real. Explore that.”
For more information about the Good At Heart Festival, as well as a full schedule of events, visit https://www.openstagehbg.com/show/gahf
