FirstHand Theatrical (FHT) creates original theater productions using primary source material drawn mainly from diverse personal, cultural and social histories.
FHT will be presenting its latest work,
How Many Bushels Am I Worth? at the Mark O'Donnell Theatre - Actors' Fund Arts Center - in Brooklyn, N.Y. this coming January of 2020 as well as in Providence, R.I.
How Many Bushels Am I Worth? tells Bena Shklyanoy's journey out of the Soviet Union to her new home in Chicago as a result of the Save Soviet Jewry movement in the 1970's and 1980's. The play is created by Bena Shklyanoy and Kevin Olson and is based on Bena's family history found on her website appledoesnotfall.com
Your donation will allow one of the great immigration stories to be shared with a wider audience. The largest population of Jewish emigres to the United States lives in Brooklyn, NY and your support will permit us to bring their story to them. Additionally, your generosity will enable FirstHand Theatrical to develop new audiences and a greater exposure through its first ever tour as we will present the play in both Providence, Rhode Island and in Brooklyn, NY.
For performance information and tickets, go to:
https://appledoesnotfall.com/plays“For years, I’ve been waiting for the captivating immigration stories of Soviet Jews to be brought to the stage or screen. The oppression that Bena’s family experienced and escaped in the 70s, as well as my family and peers’ families of the 80s largely goes unknown. This excerpt from history told in How Many Bushels Am I Worth? needs to be heard and documented.” — Sofia Jouravel, Interim Director, Jewish United Fund of Chicago, Russian Jewish Division
Kevin Olson established FHT in 2013 and has created five original scripts for the company – "How Many Bushels Am I Worth?" created with Bena Shklyanoy and premiering at the Piven Theatre in Evanston IL, "And Then What?" created with Bena Shklyanoy (presented at the Piven Theatre in Evanston, IL as well as at AS220 Black Box in Providence, RI in July 2017), “Lifepoems in Motion” (presented at the Providence Fringe Festival in July 2016), "Interrupting The Sermon" (presented at the Indianapolis Fringe Festival in 2015) and "This Is My Story: Mayses, 1938-1948" (presented at URI Feinstein Campus Arts and Culture in 2016).
Learn More: https://www.firsthandtheatrical.org/