Elie Wiesel: A Messenger to Humanity

David Y. Chack, Professor of Theater and Jewish Culture at DePaul University, will speak on the topic, Elie Wiesel: A Messenger to Humanity.  The story of Elie Wiesel is one that defies description.  Brought up in Sighet, a small town in the Transylvanian region of Romania, his life and the lives of so many were malevolently disrupted by the Shoah (Holocaust).  His memoir Night is now one of the world’s classic books being read by more than 10 million people and translated into 30 languages.  His work as a writer, peace activist (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate), teacher, storyteller, and playwright can all be summed up by the phrase, “Messenger to Provide Witness.”  David Chack, who studied with Professor Wiesel at Boston University, will provide not only the narrative of a storied career and a sampling of his writings, but insights that can only come from having worked closely with him.

David Y. Chack teaches Jewish and Identity Theatre; as well as Holocaust Theatre and Performance at DePaul and with Poland’s Taube Center for Jewish Heritage in Warsaw.  He is also Producing Artistic Director for ShPIeL-Performing Identity and its annual TEATRON Jewish Theatre Festival in Chicago, Los Angeles with ‘Pick Plays’ and Louisville with the Bunbury Theatre.  He has directed and produced theatre throughout the United States as well as curating exhibitions on performance, including the Museum of New York’s “From Bowery To Broadway – The Yiddish Theatre in New York.”  He has written for the Harold Pinter Review, American Theater, the Forward, the LEO, and HowlRound, and All About Jewish Theatre.  He studied at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Circle-in-the-Square Theatre on Broadway, Tufts University, and did Ph.D. work with his mentor, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel at Boston University, may his memory continue to be for a blessing.