By Sean Leviashvili

About 76,000 Jews were deported to Drancy: three percent survived. Of the 2,000 children under the age of six who were deported, none survived.

“Children of Drancy” tells their stories.

The Studio Theatre hosted a sold out performance of the play, “Children of Drancy” on its opening night, Oct. 9.

The original piece, composed by Inez Hedges and directed by Nancy Kindelan, is an interactive presentation that moves quickly,and seizes the audience throughout its 65 minute duration.

The format of “Children of Drancy” is different from a traditional play.

“It’s not linear. It’s a montage of voices, a collaborative effort between the performers and the audience,” said cast member Matthew Zahnzinger, a junior English and theatre major.

“Children of Drancy” reveals the stories of prisoners’ accounts at Drancy, a transit camp outside Paris. It was run by the Vichy government during World War II.

The play includes scenes showing several sides and reactions based on real-life events. It features a variety of characters, from a protesting French citizen to the child that watches his world fall apart.

Almost every actor involved took on more than one role and expressed different perspectives.

“Part of the awareness [we’re trying to create] is making people consider where they might be in a situation like that,” said cast member Kate Rakowski, a senior theatre major.

Cast members said it was difficult to adapt to their roles because they were based on real events.

“The most challenging thing was dealing with the fact that it’s all real text, none of it is fictional. It’s all drawn on from what people have said, their recounts of things or passages from books or letters,” said junior theatre and psychology major Ahmad Maksoud, the play’s narrator. “Portraying that truth, preparing it in a coherent way, [and] making sure it doesn’t come off as something fabricated was difficult for me.”

In preparation for the play, all cast members rehearsed six days a week in September while collecting research on their characters. Since the characters featured in “Drancy” all stem from history, understanding the events that occurred and the people who witnessed them was essential.

“Nothing is invented; everything comes from existing documents,” Hedges said.

This allowed the play to be an educational experience, cast members said.

“One of [Kindelan’s] major issues is using theatre as a tool to inform society of various issues,” Zahnzinger said.

The collaborative effort displayed by Hedge’s documentation and coordination as well as Kindelan’s vision gave those involved with production a solid platform to work with, cast members said.

Jaime Schrank, a junior theatre and art major, designed and selected the props and background to work with the themes presented in “Drancy.”

“Taking the director’s vision, I took images that were inspirational to me and incorporated them in the set in a way that reflects the world of Drancy,” Schrank said.

Lighting was conducted by John Malinowski, who worked with the scenery to reflect the mood of the montage.

“It definitely fit the mood: very somber, very truthful. The lighting and scenery told the story,” said Julie Becker, a sophomore theatre major, who attended the performance.

Audience members said they were impressed and moved by the performances. Becker, who had read the script prior to opening night, said the actors captured “truthful emotions” that showed the research.

The acting is complemented by the dialogue and contrasted in the play. The final scene captures the dichotomy between French patriotism and the camp’s brutal reality, in which French Jews are shown singing a patriotic song, preceded by a list of those that were deported.

“We’re coming out and giving these people a chance to speak. Their lives were taken from them, their everything was taken and they had no choice,” said cast member Alexandra Genoa. “Here they are, coming out, actually getting to speak and being released. We get to speak these people’s words.”

“Children of Drancy” will be performed in the Studio Theatre at 8 p.m. through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Each performance is followed by a discussion session with the cast and creators. Tickets are $15 with an NU ID and can be purchased at the Blackman Auditorium box office.