Susan Stein
Who is Susan Stein?
Susan Stein is the creator and performer of the play Etty, an adaptation of Etty Hillesum’s diaries and letters. Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman living in Amsterdam during the Holocaust, wrote in a diary as part of her treatment plan with her therapist, Julius Spier. Susan’s first encounter with Etty occurred in 1994, after having bought Etty’s diaries at a yard sale. Susan decided to make a play about Etty so that the young woman's beautiful words could be delivered to an even larger audience. Susan felt strongly about bringing Etty to people who hadn’t yet read her. Susan attended NYU Graduate School of Arts & Science and Purchase College, SUNY. Before creating the Etty play, Susan taught at Princeton Day School in the subjects of dramatic literature, play writing, and history and literature pertaining to the Holocaust. |
Chronology of Adapting Etty Hillesum's Writings
Step #1: A feeling
Susan said, “I had a hard time letting go of her. It felt to me that if I could hold onto her, if I could put her words into my body, then she would stay. It was a bizarre experience. It was more of an experience than even an idea. The idea of a play, of bringing it to people—that was an idea. But wanting to stay with her and give something back to her—that was a feeling. She gives you a lot and I wanted to give her something in return.”
Step #2: Car accident
Susan had a near-death experience; she was in a terrible car accident on a highway. Later that evening, in the emergency room, she thought to herself: I didn’t do that play about Etty. On her website, from a June 17, 2006 excerpt, Susan writes, “…I remember the play I wanted to write about Etty Hillesum for the last twelve years since I read her diaries and now I should be dead and I wouldn’t ever have done that play. After that in bed that night I begin finding Etty.” Several years passed between her first reading of Etty’s writings and her car accident. Susan had not consciously thought about making a play about Etty in a long while. While lying in the hospital, this idea seemingly came out of nowhere.
Step #3: Articulating the idea
Susan told her closest friend, Kate, her idea out loud.
Step #4: Sabbatical
As an instructor at the Princeton Day School, Susan applied for a sabbatical, which was designed to provide her with an entire year to dedicate to this project. Her application for sabbatical represented a momentous step because she had to write up a proposal and ask others for funding.
Step #5: Distilling
Susan spent two years distilling Etty’s diaries, which consisted of “literally taking the diaries and reading them over and over, breaking them into smaller pieces.”
Additional Steps:
Susan performed research, sought the guidance of scholars, and began to work with Austin Pendleton, an actor, playwright, director, and teacher. Susan scheduled readings, which helped expedite the process of creating and writing the play’s script.
The Etty Play
Susan describes the Etty play not as a reading of passages or excerpts from Etty’s diaries, but rather as the product of her collaging Etty’s words into a shape. Susan uses only Etty’s words in the play, but she might take a phrase of one sentence written during one year and match it to a phrase from another sentence written during another year. Etty’s words comprise a puzzle, but Susan takes the pieces and creates a different puzzle altogether.
Using the Etty Play as an Educational Tool
Susan says that Etty Hillesum provides a unique and valuable source for Holocaust studies because she has the opportunity to go back and forth between Westerbork and Amsterdam; Etty gets to step into two worlds at once.
Citations
Stein, Susan. Etty. ettyplay inc, 2008. Web. 27 March 2015.
Stein, Susan. Personal interview. 27 March 2015.
Step #1: A feeling
Susan said, “I had a hard time letting go of her. It felt to me that if I could hold onto her, if I could put her words into my body, then she would stay. It was a bizarre experience. It was more of an experience than even an idea. The idea of a play, of bringing it to people—that was an idea. But wanting to stay with her and give something back to her—that was a feeling. She gives you a lot and I wanted to give her something in return.”
Step #2: Car accident
Susan had a near-death experience; she was in a terrible car accident on a highway. Later that evening, in the emergency room, she thought to herself: I didn’t do that play about Etty. On her website, from a June 17, 2006 excerpt, Susan writes, “…I remember the play I wanted to write about Etty Hillesum for the last twelve years since I read her diaries and now I should be dead and I wouldn’t ever have done that play. After that in bed that night I begin finding Etty.” Several years passed between her first reading of Etty’s writings and her car accident. Susan had not consciously thought about making a play about Etty in a long while. While lying in the hospital, this idea seemingly came out of nowhere.
Step #3: Articulating the idea
Susan told her closest friend, Kate, her idea out loud.
Step #4: Sabbatical
As an instructor at the Princeton Day School, Susan applied for a sabbatical, which was designed to provide her with an entire year to dedicate to this project. Her application for sabbatical represented a momentous step because she had to write up a proposal and ask others for funding.
Step #5: Distilling
Susan spent two years distilling Etty’s diaries, which consisted of “literally taking the diaries and reading them over and over, breaking them into smaller pieces.”
Additional Steps:
Susan performed research, sought the guidance of scholars, and began to work with Austin Pendleton, an actor, playwright, director, and teacher. Susan scheduled readings, which helped expedite the process of creating and writing the play’s script.
The Etty Play
Susan describes the Etty play not as a reading of passages or excerpts from Etty’s diaries, but rather as the product of her collaging Etty’s words into a shape. Susan uses only Etty’s words in the play, but she might take a phrase of one sentence written during one year and match it to a phrase from another sentence written during another year. Etty’s words comprise a puzzle, but Susan takes the pieces and creates a different puzzle altogether.
Using the Etty Play as an Educational Tool
Susan says that Etty Hillesum provides a unique and valuable source for Holocaust studies because she has the opportunity to go back and forth between Westerbork and Amsterdam; Etty gets to step into two worlds at once.
Citations
Stein, Susan. Etty. ettyplay inc, 2008. Web. 27 March 2015.
Stein, Susan. Personal interview. 27 March 2015.