YAYA, the youth wing of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre has been invited to perform in Virginia Beach on November 19 and 20, 2007. Forty teenage actors will be performing No More Raisins, No More Almonds at the 1300-seat Sandler Centre for the Performing Arts.

No More Raisins, No More Almonds, by Batia Bettman, is directed by Bryna Wasserman, Artistic Director, Segal Centre for Performing Arts at the Saidye. This play with music is performed by youth about youth trapped in a European ghetto during the Holocaust.

This is YAYA’s third tour in 2007 with previous tours to Toronto and Ottawa (Gatineau) at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The company also toured to Quebec City in 2004.

The tour to Virginia began this way…

There was an anti-Semitic incident in a Catholic high school. The media covered it widely and the school and community were caught off guard and were troubled. YAYA was invited to perform because of its success in sensitizing teenagers from diverse backgrounds to the extremes of racism. This also segued to the formation of a non-sectarian organization in Virginia called C.A.B. – Communities Against Bigotry which received support from Virginia corporations.

Based on historical fact, with songs written during the Holocaust about children, the production resonates with significance for the fate of too many young people in our world today who continue to suffer - not for what they did, but for who they are.

Part of the power of this project is its youth-to-youth interface. The post-performance discussions between audience members and the young actors on stage are wide open, dynamic and inspiring.

The YAYA production was invited for four performances. Due to the unprecedented response from the surrounding high schools, all three-matinee performances, totalling 3900 seats, have been sold out. C.A.B. will host a VIP reception after the Tuesday evening gala performance on November 20, 2007.

YAYA is unique in North America, sustaining Yiddish culture and language, dramatizing the Jewish experience and fostering intercultural understanding through theatre. YAYA is a programme of The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre and the Tauben Family Foundation.

For more information, please contact:
Ben Gonshor, Director of Marketing and Communications
bgonshor@saidyebronfman.org
(514) 739-2301 Ext. 8313

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