A Holocaust survivor, a dyslexic teenager, a dying father, a righteous gentile, an ambitious teacher, a depressed and depressing couple, a curious child and a girl with a stutter all went up together on one stage as 11th grade girls in the Ann Belsky Moranis theater track at Oriya High School performed their matriculation projects in front of a live audience and placed a mirror in front of the face of Israeli society.

“Concerta for Eight” put everyone into the world of youth with learning difficulties, letting audience members experience the saying, “she has potential.” Actresses in “Daddy’s Braid” described a difficult situation, marked by alienation between father and family, even at the end of his life and evoked in everyone thoughts about how much we can each do to improve relationships with those around us.

The play “Hefetz” portrayed through the grotesque contempt and oppression in a home (with a node toward the contempt and oppression that exists amongst our entire nation… ).  This was followed by “Ki Banu Bacharta – for you have chosen us,” in which a Hasidic family is flung into an incredible state upon learning that their deceased mother was not Jewish. This performance, like “Hefetz,” exposed the relationships within our people, and explored whether they arise from a connection of a shared past or a nationalist identity that unites.

The final performance was from “Momik,” the curious child who meets a traumatized Holocaust survivor, closing the evening with a portrait of an Israeli society which has grown out of the Holocaust, and yet still does not touch it.

With tremendous talent, emotion and hard work, the 11th graders touched and fascinated each audience member, giving everyone much food for continued thought.