The Mitzvah Project in association with PlayGround Presents THE OBLIGATION, January 7-17, 2027 at Marin Shakespeare Company
Acclaimed actor Victor Talmadge brings four sharply contrasting voices to life in The Obligation, Roger Grunwald’s riveting solo drama of conscience, complicity and survival. Directed by Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award winner Nancy Carlin, the play interweaves the stories of a Polish Jew coming of age during World War II, a half-Jewish lieutenant in Hitler’s army, a Jewish-American comedian (the play’s Chorus), and a boastful, cold-blooded SS general. Through compelling drama and sharp humor, Talmadge’s tour-de-force performance brings the events of this darkest chapter in human history into urgent, contemporary focus. Presented by The Mitzvah Project in association with PlayGround and Craig Moody, Executive Producer, The Obligation will perform January 7-17, 2027 (press opening: January 9) at Marin Shakespeare Company’s Downtown Theater, 514 Fourth Street, San Rafael. For tickets (admission-free, suggested donation: $10-$30) and more information, click here or call (415) 992-6677.
A child of an Auschwitz survivor and a refugee, Grunwald’s artistic and personal mission is to use the power of the theater to keep in focus the critical lessons of the Holocaust at a time of growing intolerance and ignorance, with a reported 41% of Americans (and 66% of millennials) not being able to say what Auschwitz was. The Obligation, has been praised as “astonishingly relevant” by The Huffington Post and lauded by The San Francisco Examiner as “An unsparing Holocaust remembrance [that] should surely exist in perpetuity.”
Roger Grunwald (Playwright) is a playwright, actor, educator, and founder and artistic director of The Mitzvah Project, Holocaust education program. A native San Franciscan and a graduate of UC Berkeley and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Roger has appeared in more than 80 stage productions in the United States and Europe.
For more than twelve years, his work in the theater has been rooted in the experiences of his mother, Lotte, who survived Auschwitz, and her sister, Anni, who survived Bergen-Belsen. For years, Roger’s mother shared her eyewitness testimony with students in Bay Area schools to ensure that what she and millions of others endured would not be forgotten—and to honor those murdered whose names and stories may never be known. Roger’s promise to carry on her work led to the creation of The Mitzvah Project, which since 2014 has brought theater-based Holocaust education to more than 34,000 students and adults in 28 states and internationally. The program is offered free to public high schools.
That same commitment informs The Obligation, his drama of conscience, complicity, and survival, which challenges audiences to recognize how hatred takes hold and confront the responsibilities that remembrance demands. Roger originated its four main characters in the 2017 San Francisco premiere and 2018 revival. Roger is deeply honored to have the brilliant Victor Talmadge bring these characters to life and to work alongside him in advancing The Mitzvah Project’s educational mission. As a teaching artist with the project, Victor has brought the program to thousands of high school students in California, Colorado, and Massachusetts.
Nancy Carlin (Director) has directed and performed extensively in regional theater including the American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, Aurora, Jewel, Rogue, and Marin Theatres, Shotgun Players, Marin Shakes, Center Rep, Cal Shakes, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. A former longtime company member of A.C.T., associate artist with Cal Shakes, and member of PlayGround, Carlin is a theater arts lecturer with UC Berkeley, and SJSU. She holds a BA in comparative literature from Brown University and an MFA in acting from A.C.T. Ms. Carlin is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. She co-authored the musical Max Understood, and can be seen in Eleanor Coppola’s film, Love is Love is Love. www.nancycarlin.com
Victor Talmadge (Performer) is an actor, director, playwright, and educator. He has worked extensively on stages throughout the United States and, as a Mitzvah Project Teaching Artist, brings his own family’s Holocaust stories to life.
“My mother was one of only eight relatives, amongst hundreds in my extended family living in Poland prior to WWII, to have survived or escaped the Holocaust. After fleeing to Lithuania, she was one of the lucky 2,000 Jews saved by Japanese consular official, Chiune Sugihara.”
“My great Uncle, David Olère, an artist, was the only survivor of Auschwitz to pictorially document the gas chambers. (He was one of the few Auschwitz Sonderkommando to have survived.) I am only one generation removed from these events, and they remain deeply personal to me. I am honored to be part of The Mitzvah Project and to perform in The Obligation—to bear witness and help audiences recognize our shared responsibility to prevent such horrors from happening again.”
As an actor, Victor performed on Broadway in the world premiere of David Mamet’s, November; played “The King” in the Tony Award-winning production of the Broadway National Tour of The King and I, as Scar in the Los Angeles production of The Lion King and boasts extensive film and television credits, as well. As a playwright, The Gate Of Heaven, was awarded The Nakashima Peace Prize and was the first live theater produced at The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and has been subsequently performed at several major regional theaters. He is a retired Professor of the Practice and Director of Theater Studies, Mills College at Northeastern University.
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The Mitzvah Project was founded by Roger Grunwald to engage and educate high school and college students about the Holocaust using the power of theater. The Mitzvah Project creates unique learning experiences for teens and young adults by dramatically exploring the connections between this dark chapter of history and the contemporary spread of antisemitism, white supremacy, and other forms of intolerance, and “othering” in America today. Since 2014, The Mitzvah Project has been presented at more than 220 high schools, colleges, synagogues, and community organizations in 27 states and internationally. Of that total, more than 17,000 high school-aged students have been engaged. Over the years, The Mitzvah Project has been honored for its groundbreaking approach to Holocaust education, most recently (April 2024) by members of the Jewish Caucus of the California State Legislature and, previously, by a wide range of educators, scholars, clerics, and community leaders.
PlayGround’s mission is to support the development of new local voices for the theatre. PlayGround is a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, providing unique opportunities for the cultivation and development of early-career local playwrights and partnerships with leading professional directors, actors and theatres. PlayGround operates programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago. PlayGround co-produced the premiere of The Obligation at its home theater, Potrero Stage, in 2017 and again in 2018, and currently serves as fiscal sponsor for The Mitzvah Project. https://playground-sf.org
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For Calendar Editors:
WHAT: Acclaimed actor Victor Talmadge brings four sharply contrasting voices to life in The Obligation, Roger Grunwald’s riveting solo drama of conscience, complicity and survival. Directed by Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award winner Nancy Carlin, the play interweaves the stories of a Polish Jew coming of age during World War II, a half-Jewish lieutenant in Hitler’s army, a Jewish-American comedian (the play’s Chorus), and a boastful, cold-blooded SS general. Through compelling drama and sharp humor, Talmadge’s tour-de-force performance brings the events of this darkest chapter in human history into urgent, contemporary focus. Presented by The Mitzvah Project in association with PlayGround and Craig Moody, Executive Producer.
WHEN:
Previews: Thursday, January 7 – Friday, January 8, 2027
Press Opening: Saturday, January 9, 2027
Closes: Sunday, January 17, 2027
SHOWS:
7pm Thu-Sat
2pm Sun
WHERE:
Marin Shakespeare Company’s Downtown Theater, 514 Fourth Street, San Rafael
TICKETS: Admission-Free (Suggested Donation: $10-$30)
INFO: For information or to order tickets, visit https://playground-sf.org/boxoffice/?eid=214824 or call (415) 992-6677.
PRESS: Contact Jonathan Josephson, PlayGround. 415.992.6677 | jonathan@playground-sf.org
PHOTOS: Downloadable high-res photos are available here: theobligation.org