Role: Supporting Lab Director, Suelin Chen
2011

Exhibit Details
The Laboratory at Harvard

Zalmen or The Madness of God
May 1st, 2011
“Zalmen or The Madness of God” marks Elie Wiesel’s dramatic effort to “correct”
reality and “repair injustice”. Recounting the struggle of Jews in recently
established post-Stalinist Russia, Wiesel’s play is a cry of anguish over the
collective guilt of “the Silent”. Director Guila Clara Kessous breathes life
into Wiesel’s words by utilizing the stage to bear witness to the past in the
hopes of redefining the present and reclaiming the future. Taking the risk of
remembrance, “Zalmen or The Madness of God”–much like Untitled and
Remembrance—challenges the viewer to actively and objectively engage in the
world around him, acknowledging injustice and addressing it as a member of our
global community. Innovatively incorporating projection, puppetry, and live
music, Kessous responds to Ai Weiwei’s installation (organized by the GSD and Harvard Art Museums) and partners with the Harvard Laboratory to give voice
to the oppressed through a lens that transcends time and space.

“ZALMEN OR THE MADNESS OF GOD”
A PLAY BY ELIE WIESEL
PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY GUILA CLARA KESSOUS
SUNDAY, MAY 1ST, 2011, 5:00PM
THE NORTHWEST BUILDING
AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
52 OXFORD STREET
CAMBRIDGE MA 02138
http://www.zalmentheplay.com
TICKETS: $16 GENERAL, $10 FOR STUDENTS
TO MAKE RESERVATIONS, PLEASE EMAIL ZALMENTHEPLAY@GMAIL.COM
This performance is being produced as a tribute to Professor Elie Wiesel, the
distinguished author and winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize. The foreword
of this event will be given by Dr. Joel Rappel, Director of Elie Wiesel’s
archives Center introducing Mr. Alex Koifman from the Russian Jewish Community
Foundation and Mrs. Rosian Zerner, Holocaust survivor, niece of victim composer
Edwin Geist and former vice president of the World Federation of Jewish Child
Survivors of the Holocaust.
Visionary director Guila Clara Kessous stages eighteen actors and one puppet
to transmit the testimony of suffering, dealing with burning questions such as
the role of religion and the risks of assimilation. This event is sponsored by
The Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, The Lab at Harvard and
Harvard University Pforzheimer House.