DIRECTING
Fran Sillau is a director whose particular passion is theater about those who are marginalized. Fran says
Artist Statement for Fran Sillau
“I am a theater maker steeped in the art of producing and directing Theater For Young Audiences. I have a track record of programming, commissioning, creating, and producing work that is diverse at multiple levels. As a theater maker with a disability, I offer a unique lens to view and execute productions and educational material. However, my disability does not define me. I exercise my role as director and artistic director to elevate voices who have historically been excluded from the theatrical narrative including Black, indigenous, artists of color. I enable a diverse array of stories with a diverse group of artists telling those stories both on and off stage. My goal is to develop stories for today’s youth that will expand the Theater for Young Audiences canon and simultaneously enable ALL young people to see themselves as positive changemakers in today’s world. “
Selected Theater For Young Audiences TYA list
The Doll Maker’s Gift (2019)
Book by EllaRose Chary and Fran Sillau Music by Brian Feinstein. Lyrics by Sammy Buck Based on The Doll Maker’s Gift by Sashi Fridman Produced in Partnership With Deborah Denenberg
Nora is an imaginative little girl whose Russian Jewish community faces the Pogroms of the 1900s, a time of ethnic cleansing of Jews in Russia. After their cousins’ village is attacked, Nora’s family is forced to flee to America. They discover at the last moment that they don’t have enough funds to pay for everyone’s passage. Young Nora will have to stay behind, with the threat of attacks ever increasing. She is left with a family friend, a kind doll maker who offers to care for her until they can earn enough money to pay for her journey to America. Nora and the devoted doll maker show that all obstacles can be overcome with the help of good friends and community.
“Families should flock to this one.” The Omaha World Herald
And Then they Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank (2007),
by James Still
A multimedia production that telling of Anne Frank. Presented by Town and Country Arts, Inc. in conjunction with the Institute for Holocaust Education
Hana’s Suitcase, (2009)
by Emil Sher
Based on the award-winning book by Karen Levine, this moving story follows the life of Hana Brady on her journey during the Holocaust. Presented by the Omaha Theater Company in conjunction with the Institute for Holocaust Education
“Brundibar” an Opera (2010)
by Hans Krasa
An Opera performed 55 times in World War II concentration camp; presented by Opera Omaha in conjunction with the Institute for Holocaust Education
Go Dog, Go!,(2010)
Adapted by James Larson
An adaptation of the book by P. D. Eastman; told using only 60 words. world preiemre production presented by the Omaha Theater Company
Secret Life of Girls, (2012)
by Linda Daugherty
A look into the life of today’s teenager and how the effects of bullying and technology can change their lives forever. Produced by the Jewish Community Theatre and the Great Plains office of the Anti Defamation League. by Linda Daugherty
