Review Fix Exclusive: Stephanie Satie Talks ‘Silent Witnesses’

Review Fix chats with playwright and actress Stephanie Satie, who discusses the goals and inspiration behind her production “Silent Witnesses” and it’s upcoming run at the 13th Street Repertory in New York City.

About ‘Silent Witnesses’:

In one evening Satie portrays a group of “phantom siblings” … child survivors of the atrocity called the Holocaust.

Reenacting details compiled from personal interviews and conversations with individuals who survived the camps and other carnage, Ms. Satie paints an uplifting portrait of human resilience shaped through the memories of children now infused with the wisdom of the adults they’ve become.

Silent witnesses too long, now their stories can, at last, be told.

The 13th Street Repertory, in its continuing resurgence of art excellence off-off Broadway, is proud to host a limited run of this acclaimed work of art.

Performing March 17, 18, 23, 24, 30, 31 @ 7:30 p.m.
with Sunday matinees @ 3:00 p.m. on March 20, 27 & April 3
and a special Saturday night on March 26@ 7:30 p.m.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Stephanie Satie: It was fortuitous. I was performing an earlier solo piece, Coming to America – a portrait gallery of nine women who left their homelands due to extraordinary circumstances, to remake their lives in America. They came from Armenia, El Salvador, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, Serbia, Iraq and Cambodia; some were young, some older. I had been booked as a fundraiser for an organization called Child Survivors of the Holocaust. Many were therapists or social workers. I was nervous. Happily, they loved the piece and were moved by these characters. Most were women in the audience and very good looking. During the Q & A, I mentioned that and one woman said, “nobody saves the ugly puppies,” adding “why don’t you tell our stories now.” That was it. I began interviewing many of the women there within a week. I had no idea it would take seven years to complete the play.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Satie: It depends on the project – whether it’s someone else’s material or my own. I’ll focus here on solo plays. I often start by either interviewing or talking to people over a period of weeks or months, or sometimes just reading an article that awakens outrage or inspiration in me. With Refugees, an earlier piece, I had been teaching English as a Second Language to adults and would share with other teachers in the school events and stories I’d heard in the classroom. I played myself and the students and acted out the dynamics of the class. The other teachers urged me to write this up and bring it to life. I was so immersed in the stories and the lives of my students – how brave they were – in addition to my never ending fascination with linguistic idiosyncrasies of other languages, that merging the two was deeply satisfying. I also revisited a childhood pleasure of “morphing” into friends and others who interested me. I tried to feel what it would be like to be someone else. I felt I was honoring, celebrating the lives of my students in Refugees, and now, the child survivors in Silent Witnesses. Anna Deveare Smith was clearly an early inspiration for me.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Satie: For me it is a way of wearing, without appropriating, the lives of others far braver than I am. It allows me to try on their language, their gestures, the pauses as they grapple with locating the right word, and ultimately, to see the world through a different lens.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Satie: I learned again to play; to morph into others and explore the pleasure of moving, thinking, sounding like someone else. I could be tall or large-boned or slower moving, funnier, calmer, more philosophical, kinder.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?

Satie: I am filled with gratitude that I have met these people and that their lives continue to unfold before me. I am honored not only to bring their stories to other audiences but, but that they still come to the show and that I continue to meet more survivors as I continue to perform. I feel responsible, but not burdened, and so blessed that they have entrusted their stories to my care. I feel a tiny part of keeping history alive.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Satie: I hope to be able to perform this piece for many different types of audiences – those familiar with Holocaust narratives, but perhaps, not these – and additionally to those unfamiliar or minimally familiar with these stories. I never want people to forget or feel “I’ve heard it before.” They haven’t.

Review Fix: Who do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Satie: Probably Paula as she has been through the most, but provides much of the humor for the play. She is full of surprises and makes us examine ourselves while allowing us to laugh. But I think and hope audiences will love them all as I do.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Satie: 13th St. Rep March 17-April 3rd. I’m delighted to be bringing this play back to NY. We played 2013 and 2014 at the United Solo Festival, winning Best Documentary Script. Now we have a lovely 3-week run. Please come. I’d love to see you there.