Produced by:
a ry presentation
Touring Window:
May/Jun & Sep/Oct 2025
Genre:
Theatre
Suitable Venues:
Mainstage – Proscenium Theatre, Black Box, Studio, Town Hall
*This production is great for Community Presenters
Duration:
70 minutes, no interval
Audience:
Recommended for ages 15+, contains references to violence, war, antisemitism, genocide, concentration camps, war crimes, PTSD and depiction of hate symbol
Synopsis
How do you honour the legacy of a woman you hardly knew?…and didn’t really like?
Niusia was a Holocaust survivor. Charming, savvy, and if you ask her granddaughter, Beth, a pretty mean lady. She’s ready to learn who Niusia was, but soon discovers there is no straightforward answer.
Reading, interviewing, and weaving memories and handed-down stories, Beth sets out to understand her nana’s complex legacy. She gives voice to the cruel thoughts you shouldn’t have about your holocaust-surviving nana, stumbles upon her own Jewishness (something she used only to evade school church services), and ultimately confronts how deeply embedded these horrific memories are in her family line. She asks, “I’ve somehow always known these stories. When did I learn these stories, and how?”
This show takes the audience on Beth’s journey as she is shown the tenderness she missed out on, learns to laugh at the unlaughable, and wades through the complexity of trauma-laden memories, love, and familial relationships.
Book this show
a ry presentation is a Naarm-based production company specialising in new and queer theatre.
Beth Paterson (she/her) is an award-winning Naarm/Melbourne-based emerging queer, Jewish theatre maker. A young artist experienced in operetta and cabaret, this new phase in her career sees her practice expanding, with a strong focus on writing, clown, and solo performance. Recent performance and writing credits include NIUSIA (2023 Fringe Festival Market Ready Award Winner), Private Parts (Pink Flappy Bits), The Human Voice (Periscope Productions), Storytelling in Brunswick (Melbourne Digital Fringe), and The Pirates of Penzance (BK Opera/MICF). Beth also presented a sold-out, development showing of NIUSIA as a part of La Mama Theatre’s 2023 Winter Explorations season.
Contact the touring team for a copy of the tech specs for this production.
‘Devising Your Own Autobiographical Work’ with Beth Paterson and Kathryn Yates
Fee range
Professional Presenters: Enquire via email.
Community Presenters: $3,300 per show + GST
Book
Contact the Touring Team to talk about your program. Please let us know which show you are interested in and provide us with your contact details. Then one of our touring team will be in touch.
‘One of the finest solo, biographical shows I’ve ever seen’
– Theatre Matters
****
– Toorak Times
‘This is ground-breaking, needed, clever, entertaining, and satisfying theatre.’
DISCLAIMER: All details are correct at the time of publishing. Images and information provided on this page about the production are for descriptive purposes and do not always represent the content of the show.