“The Murder Of Lidice†A Special Stage And Screen Event
AUSTERLITZ, NY. - The Edna St. Vincent Millay Society at Steepletop, located on East Hill Road in Austerlitz, New York announces its final public event presented in conjunction with its current exhibition, “The Murder of Lidice: a poem and a political Statement.”On Friday, November 7 at 7pm at the Spencertown Academy on Route 203 in Spencertown, New York, a cast of five actors will present, live and in person, the original radio drama written by Pulitzer Prize poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Originally heard over NBC on October 19, 1942 with a cast including film star Paul Muni this play changed forever America’s perception of the war in Europe and turned the nation’s attention to the East and away from the Pacific Circus of War.
The Millay Society will be presenting this live performance together with Douglas Sirk’s original film, “Hitler’s Madman” which is based, in part, on Millay’s poem/play. Sirk’s first American feature film stars John Carradine, Patricia Morison, Alan Curtis and, in an unbilled small role, Ava Gardner. Lidice, a town in Czechoslovakia, was wiped off the face of the earth on June 19, 1942 by the Nazis as a revenge for the assassination of Reinhardt Heydrich, protector of Czechoslovakia and the creator of the “final solution.”
In the cast of the play are local actors Johnna Murray, Sybille Baier, Kate Gulliver, and Paul Murphy with Peter Bergman, director of the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society. “We think of this as our Radio City Music Hall version of the show we’ve been doing in the gallery in October because it includes both a live show and a movie,” Bergman said. “While not recommended for very young children it does present a very vivid and clear historical look at the war and how the Nazis were treating people. It’s a history lesson of sorts and also a definitive piece propaganda writing.”
The evening will be FREE and refreshments will be served between the live performance and the film. Contributions will be accepted and for those who do contribute a free pass to see the exhibition will be included. For more information and to make a reservation, please call 518-392-3362.
