To Be an Actress

By (author) Nava Shean Translated by Michelle Fram Cohen

Not available to order

Publication date:

13 April 2010

Length of book:

196 pages

Publisher

Hamilton Books

ISBN-13: 9780761855637

In To Be an Actress, Nava Shean tells about her life on the stage: from children's theater in Prague to traveling theater in the Czech countryside, to performances of prisoners in Terezin concentration camp, to Israel's national theater, Munich State theater, and her one-woman shows. The common theme that runs through the memoir is Ms. Shean's passion for the theater and her dedication to acting despite excruciating circumstances.

The memoir provides first-hand account of life in Terezin concentration camp and the incredible artistic activity under the shadow of the transports to the death camps. It also portrays the author's reconnection with her Jewish heritage against the background of her family's assimilation. Upon her arrival in Israel in 1948, Ms. Shean took part in the development of the Israeli theater, an alliance that continued into the 1980s and culminated in her one-woman show
Requiem in Terezin.
To Be an Actress is a splendid opportunity to look into the heart and mind of a dedicated actor. And, incidentally, to find out what acting—even under the most stressful circumstancesis all about.