By Casey Craig, National Jewish Theater Foundation

The National Jewish Theater Foundation/Holocaust Theater Archive is pleased to announce the successful opening of Jeff Cohen’s new play The Soap Myth. Directed by NJTF/HTA Founder and President Arnold Mittelman, this Off-Broadway production officially premiered on March 26^th, and has been met with positive reception from both critics and the public alike.

The Soap Myth chronicles the struggle of a Holocaust survivor’s fight to be heard. Protagonist Milton Saltzman is pitted against Holocaust deniers and the inability of Holocaust historians to accept what he believes to be an incontrovertible truth: that the Nazis used the remains of their Jewish victims to produce soap.  Saltzman approaches journalist Annie Blumberg to assist him in revealing to the academic community, and the world, that these stories are undeniably true. The historians in the play question how far the credibility of an eyewitness account should extend; and Blumberg feels caught between two equally passionate but opposing forces.

Cast members include: the inimitable Greg Mullavey as Milton Saltzman; newcomer Andi Potamkin as the morally divided Annie Blumberg; Donald Corren as Holocaust historian Daniel Silver, amongst other roles; and Dee Pelletier, double cast as historian Esther Feinman and the contemptible Holocaust denier Brenda Goodsen. The design team for the show includes: set design by Heather Wolensky, costumes by David Withrow, and light design by Jason Scott.

Dr. Michael Berenbaum had the following to say in a letter to the editor of the New York Times: “I saw the NJT production last week, and under Arnold Mittelman’s direction I recognized in each of the characters people that I had encountered in my professional career, from passionate survivors to stogy Museum officials, from naïve and innocent reporters to pernicious Holocaust deniers. The Soap Myth by Jeff Cohen portrays them all powerfully.”

This captivating and provocative piece of theater will be playing through April 22^nd at the Black Box Theatre of the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, located at 111 West 46^th Street. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays at 3 p.m. Tickets range in price from $50 to $60, and student rush tickets are priced at $20 each. Tickets may be purchased through TheaterMania at (212) 352-3101, or online at www.nationaljewishtheater.com. For more information, please visit the aforementioned website, or www.thesoapmyth.com.