{"product_id":"ben-hechts-theatre-of-jewish-protest-paperback-softback-9781978835948","title":"Ben Hecht's Theatre of Jewish Protest (Paperback \/ softback) 9781978835948","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eBen Hecht's Theatre of Jewish Protest\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eGarrett Eisler (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781978835948\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 14 January 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e272 pages, 11 B-W images\u003cbr\u003e23.5 x 15.6 x 2 cm, 0.399 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"A spe­cial val­ue of \u003ci\u003eBen Hecht's The­atre of Jew­ish Protest\u003c\/i\u003e is its recov­ery and print­ing of the four works that were intend­ed to advance Jew­ish rights and inter­ests. . . . For Hecht, Jew­ish exis­tence was ter­ri­fy­ing­ly pre­car­i­ous, and to defend it art might inspire action.\" - Stephen Whitfield (Jewish Book Council) \"Offering a deep dive into Ben Hecht’s explicitly Jewish and Zionist pageants of the 1940s, Garrett Eisler has rescued these compelling and star-studded spectacles from their previous consignment to the footnotes of Hecht’s long and illustrious career. Richly detailed and documented – including the full-text of four out-of-print or previously unpublished scripts – the book vividly evokes the period when a handful of Jewish theatre artists, galvanized to action by the Holocaust, used the tools of their trade to influence public opinion, and in so doing assert their Jewishness to a degree never before seen on American stages.\" - Henry Bial (author of Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen) \u003ci\u003e\"Ben Hecht’s Theatre of Jewish Protest \u003c\/i\u003eis an admirably thoughtful and thorough exploration of Hecht’s four plays focusing on the Holocaust. I highly endorse it.\" - Norman J. Fedder (distinguished pro­fes­sor emer­i­tus of the­atre at Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty) \"A welcome contribution to the growing body of research on Ben Hecht's work with the Bergson Group during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath.\" - Edna Nahshon (author of New York's Yiddish Theater: From the Bowery to Broadway)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eBen Hecht is most remembered as a famous Hollywood screenwriter and Broadway playwright, but only recently has his extensive Jewish activism during the Holocaust and its aftermath received scholarly attention. Unlike other, more expansive Hecht biographies, this book focuses in depth on his Jewish political theatre, drawing on extensive archival research of four dramas: \u003ci\u003eWe Will Never Die\u003c\/i\u003e (1943), \u003ci\u003eA Jewish Fairy Tale\u003c\/i\u003e (1944), \u003ci\u003eA Flag Is Born\u003c\/i\u003e (1946), and \u003ci\u003eThe Terrorist\u003c\/i\u003e (1947). Garrett Eisler's readings of these little-known (and out of print) texts reclaim them as pivotal to the history of Jewish American drama, being among the first works of U.S. theatre to address the Holocaust. The full texts of all four works are republished here for the first time, along with production details and full performance histories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Hecht introduced a new heroic Jewish identity to the American stage, one that challenged popular stereotypes of villainy or weakness. This powerful and (still) controversial body of work stands as a striking testament to the power of theatre to rise to the moment. o. In their use of the stage to aggressively engage with history as it was happening, the story of Hecht and his colleagues is a compelling case of artists who made a difference.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e             Part I: From “\u003cbr\u003eVanishing”\u003cbr\u003e to Visible: Barriers to Jewish Representation, 1933–\u003cbr\u003e1943\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1: Protesting Antisemitism via Antifascism\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2: Breaking the Silence: \u003ci\u003eWe Will Never Die\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e             Part II: Tevye and the Terrorists: Plays for Palestine, 1944–\u003cbr\u003e1947\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3: The Assassination of “\u003cbr\u003eLord Moisha”\u003cbr\u003e: \u003ci\u003eA Jewish Fairy Tale\u003c\/i\u003e and the Pivot to Palestine\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4: The Death of Tevye and the Birth of Israel: \u003ci\u003eA Flag Is Born\u003c\/i\u003e on Broadway\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5: Passion Play for a Jewish “\u003cbr\u003eTerrorist”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Appendix 1: Text of \u003ci\u003eWe Will Never Die\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Appendix 2: Text of \u003ci\u003eA Jewish Fairy Tale\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Appendix 3: Text of \u003ci\u003eA Flag Is Born\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Appendix 4: Text of \u003ci\u003eThe Terrorist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Introduction 1\u003cbr\u003e Part I From “\u003cbr\u003eVanishing”\u003cbr\u003e to Visible: Barriers to Jewish Representation,1933–\u003cbr\u003e1943\u003cbr\u003e 1 Protesting Antisemitism via Antifascism 15\u003cbr\u003e 2 Breaking the Silence: We Will Never Die 28\u003cbr\u003e Part II Tevye and the Terrorists: Plays for Palestine, 1944–\u003cbr\u003e1947\u003cbr\u003e 3 The Assassination of “\u003cbr\u003eLord Moisha”\u003cbr\u003e: A Jewish Fairy Tale and the Pivot to Palestine 63\u003cbr\u003e 4 The Death of Tevye and the Birth of Israel: A Flag Is Born on Broadway 78\u003cbr\u003e 5 Passion Play for a Jewish “\u003cbr\u003eTerrorist”\u003cbr\u003e 105\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion 117\u003cbr\u003e appendix 1: we will never die 125\u003cbr\u003e appendix 2: a jewish fairy tale 153\u003cbr\u003e appendix 3: a flag is born 165\u003cbr\u003e appendix 4: the terrorist 203\u003cbr\u003e acknowledgments 223\u003cbr\u003e notes 225\u003cbr\u003e bibliography 249\u003cbr\u003e index 000\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Rutgers University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52640481575192,"sku":"9781978835948","price":28.58,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/ben-hechts-theatre-of-jewish-protest-paperback-softback-9781978835948","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}