On January 31st, Gulfshore Playhouse came to visit Marco Island Academy. The emotional play titled  Remember: The Story of Abe Price shares a Holocaust survivor’s unique story. This play features Abe Price’s five escapes from the Nazis after their invasion of Poland. 

The story begins with the introduction of Abe Price, his mother, father, and older brother Charles. As the story progresses, the viewers begin to see the relationship between Abe Price and his family grow under the stress of the Nazi’s rise to power. As his parents are sent to the gas chambers in a chilling scene, Abe Price’s father repeats, “live and take revenge.” This message of perseverance carried Abe Price throughout the rest of his story. He repeats how his brother and he had  to “move on or we die.” As he goes in and out of ghettos or what he called “open-air prisons” and experiences the tragedy of Auschwitz Birkenau where he assures listeners, “God was not there,” he expertly expresses the continuous despair felt throughout all of the victims.  This chilling story delivers a message of perseverance and exposes the tragedy and villainy behind the Holocaust.

The Nazi’s stark clothing and the red armband displaying the Nazi symbol shocked many students to see. As iterated in the play, “breaking people is a science,” and it was made clear throughout the play that the Nazis had made killing people just that, a systematic science.  The 45-minute play concludes with Abe Price delivering a powerful monologue. “My time is fading,” he states, “I need you to remember.” 

This play was brought to MIA by Gulfshore Playhouse; on the day of the event Director of Education, Steven Calakos was sure to answer questions. He expresses the importance of using “oral history and theatre arts to recount stories of the past so we don’t repeat our mistakes.” Abe Price passed away in 2014 but before that, he spent his time educating students of Collier County. Now, his sons Herb and Sidney have continued to share his story with students across the county. His two sons along with the rest of the cast, including a Jewish performer, sat down to answer student and teacher questions. The brothers both agreed that the most important lesson their parents taught them as Holocaust survivors was the Golden Rule, treat others how you would like to be treated.  

Marco Island Academy’s students are more than grateful to have been able to see such a beautiful piece that documents one of the most atrocious times in history. MIA senior, Kira Swanson was moved by the play and said, “it was interesting to see a different perspective of this time.”  Rachel Weiner, a senior at MIA in the theatre program said, “the story of this play in combination with the production created an emotional display that was more impactful than expected.” As said in the play, “the world forgets,” so as students it is our responsibility to remember. 

To learn more or show support you can reach out to Gulfshore Playhouse or read “Memoirs of a Survivor” which tells a more detailed story written by Abe Price himself.