“Leopoldstadt” and “Parade,” two productions about the horrors of antisemitism, took major awards on Sunday, making the topic a central theme of the night.
Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt,” which centers on the destructive toll of antisemitism on a family of Viennese Jews and was inspired by Stoppard’s belated reckoning with his Jewish roots, won best play. Earlier in the night, the play’s director, Patrick Marber, won for best direction of a play, and Brandon Uranowitz, one of the central actors in the ensemble cast, won a featured actor award.
“Thank you Tom Stoppard for writing a play about Jewish identity and antisemitism and the false promise of assimilation with the nuances and the complexities and the contradictions that they deserve,” Uranowitz said in his acceptance speech. “My ancestors, many of whom did not make it out of Poland, also thank you.”
“Parade,” a musical that tells the tragedy of Leo Frank, the Jewish pencil factory manager who was murdered by a mob in 1915, won best musical revival. Its director, Michael Arden, won the award for best direction of a musical, urging the audience to battle antisemitism, white supremacy and other forms of hate.
“We must come together, we must battle this,” Arden said, “or else we are doomed to repeat the horrors of our history.”
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
