On January 17th and 19th, Miami Country Day School will present the play Dear Esther during school hours to all its middle and senior high school students. The play is sponsored by the Drama Club and the Jewish Student Union. Before the performances, members of the JSU will prepare the students for Dear Esther with background on the Holocaust, Esther Raab, and Sobibor, a death camp in Eastern Poland from which Esther escaped on October 14, 1943. After the performance, more than 1,000 middle and senior high school students will discuss the play with their teachers and advisors.
Danielle Respler, a 17-year-old Miami Country Day senior, was so moved by the film “Escape From Sobibor” that she advocated for a performance of Dear Esther. “After watching the play with my parents and brothers,” Danielle told TEP, “I immediately read the play Dear Esther. I had the urge and motivation to bring this opportunity to my school, so I set up a meeting with my high school drama teacher the following week.”