In honor of National Holocaust Month in April, Theatre Bristol will present I Never Saw Another Butterfly at the Paramount Center for the Arts.
A true story of innocent children victimized by the Nazis, as told by one girl who survived, the play will be presented both for school groups and for the public.
More than 15,000 Jewish children under the age of 15 passed through the Nazi concentration camp of Terezin between 1942 and 1945. Fewer than 100 were still alive when Terezin was liberated near the end of World War II.
I Never Saw Another Butterfly is the true story of these children as seen through the eyes of Raja, who helped teach and console them during the Holocaust, one of the darkest periods in the twentieth century.
Celeste Raspanti was inspired to write the play after discovering a book of the same name, a collection of drawings and poems by the actual children who interred at Terezin.
Performances of I Never Saw Another Butterfly, especially for school children, are scheduled for April 6 and 7 at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m.
The sole public performance is scheduled for Sunday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. All performances of I Never Saw Another Butterfly will be at The Paramount Center for the Arts, located at 518 State St. in downtown Bristol, Tenn.
The role of Raja Englanderova is played by Katie Gilmer and her teacher/mentor at Terezin, Irena Synkova, is played by Victoria Jade Proffitt.
Playing Raja’s family and friends are Theatre Bristol veterans and newcomers alike. Her father is played by Darryl Cox; her mother by Stephany McEvoy; her Aunt Vera by Beth Lynne Morgan; and her brother by Michael Reece Wheeler.
Raja’s friends and colleagues include Aja Cox as Erika, Victoria Burnette as Renka, Stephanie Bussard as Irca, and Ryan Verhegge as Honza.
The Rabbi is played by Steve Hebert. The children of Terezin are played by TB veterans Chelsea Burnette, Annie Carr, Lyric Dunagan, Brianna Franklin, She’yla Howard, Derek Lantz, Joseph Minga, Skyler Orman, Liam Robison, Aubrey Sobczak and Joshua Sobczak.
Some children are also played by TB newcomers Jacob Alvis, Jonathan Cooper, Kristen Cross, Eathan Earles, Sarah Gregorczyk, Catie Lott, Valerie Lott, Madison Minga, Ruth Morgan, Katylynn Widener, Alyssa Wise and Autumn Wyatt.
Theatre Bristol’s producing director, Robert Dean, directs the play, with assistant director Melissa Conner, technical direction by Emily Anne Thompson.
Costuming is by Gwen McAvoy-Arnold and Christopher Lyn, lighting design by Andrea McAvoy, sound design by Jonathan Neal, and stage management by Elizabeth Paxton.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children under age 12. Reservations may be made with a Visa or MasterCard by calling or visiting Theatre Bristol’s box office, located at 512 State Street in historic downtown Bristol, Tenn., Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.
For more information, please call Theatre Bristol at 968-4977.

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