'I Never Saw Another Butterfly' by Naugatuck Teen Theatre- My Review

Photos by Robert Rosa

This weekend Naugatuck Teen Theatre presents ‘I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a one-act play by Celeste Raspanti. The piece is a penetrating glimpse at a small group of Jewish children at Terezin, a stopping off place for hundreds of thousands on their way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

The program explains that over 15,000 Jewish children passed through the former military garrison set up as a ghetto and only about a hundred were still alive when Terezin was liberated at the end of the war. Poems and drawing done by the children were collected and published in a book of the same name. This play is an imaginative creation of the story of one of the survivors, Raja Englanderova, from documentary material: poems, diaries, letters, journals, drawing and pictures.

In the lead role of Raja, Naugatuck High School senior Kayla Kusy gave a spectacular performance. The audience hung on her every word as she told the story of the only survivor. Another great performance was delivered by Woodland HS junior Lindsey Rosa in the role of teacher Irena Synkova; this young lady played a woman older than the teens so convincingly.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY ENTIRE REVIEW ON ONSTAGE

Remaining performances are Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm at St. Michael’s Church parish hall on Church Street in Naugatuck.