Beyond Testimony: A Performance of REMNANTS, and Discussion
First produced by National Public Radio in 1991 and since staged at more than 300 venues worldwide, REMNANTS is presented as a one-person performance by the author. The play reflects fifty years of deepening collaboration between the playwright and a small group of Holocaust survivors. Rather than single "testimonies," these conversations involved several meetings with the same survivor over a period of months, years, and--with some survivors--decades.
REMNANTS recreates moments that seemed to get to the core of what survivors most struggled to convey. As in any conversation, such moments are gifts. And, as a listener, they may drop you to the floor. In their clarity and candor, these moments challenge much of what we think we know about the Holocaust, about survivors, and about ourselves.
A performance of REMNANTS runs 45 minutes and is always followed by discussion.
Author Bio
Henry “Hank” Greenspan is an emeritus psychologist, oral historian, and playwright at the University of Michigan. In contrast with one-time “testimony” interviews, he has pursued deepening conversations with the same survivors over weeks, years, and--with some survivors--decades. That method and its fruits are summarized in his books: On Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Beyond Testimony; with Agi Rubin, Reflections: Auschwitz, Memory, and a Life Recreated; and a playscript and literary memoir just published, REMNANTS and What Remains: Moments from a Life Among Holocaust Survivors. That volume includes the first in-print published script of REMNANTS.
In 2024, he received the biennial Distinguished Achievement Award for Holocaust Studies and Research from the Holocaust Educational Foundation. In the same year, a Festschrift in honor of his work was published by the international journal, Holocaust Studies. In 2025 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Malmo University in Sweden. In 2026, he was invited to keynote Sweden’s observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. For information about REMNANTS, contact Hank Greenspan at [email protected].
A performance of REMNANTS can be watched here.
[Henry "Hank" Greenspan performing from REMNANTS]
[Henry "Hank" Greenspan performing from REMNANTS]