Breaking the Silence

Three women with three different generations of memory are bound together by the specter of the Holocaust. Set in the reality of Manhattan, Shaina, a young medical student and member of the “third generation,” serves as the center of conflict with her mother Renee, a physician, and her grandmother Rosa, a survivor of Auschwitz and the Lodz ghetto. Rosa’s wartime experiences and the secrets she still keeps fascinate Shaina, who deserts her boyfriend and education to travel to Poland and explore her family’s history. Upon her return, the relationships among all three women begin to splinter beneath the weight of untold stories. The responsibility of a parent to their child is a thread that spins itself throughout the play, culminating in shocking revelations. Then it becomes clear that only through the power of dreams and the strength of love can the meaning of the past and the value of the present truly be realized.