Thursday, January 29, 2026
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education
525 Versailles Drive
Centerville, OH 45459

Experience a premiere reading of this original work and provide feedback in a post-reading conversation with the playwright, director, and actor.

Varian is a new solo play about the journey of Varian Fry, an American writer and editor, who traveled to Vichy France during World War II. He helped rescue Anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees, including artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, writer André Breton, and philosopher Hannah Arendt. A determined, clever and, at times, a very naive man, Varian used his energy to save thousands of lives. When traveling to a world that was not his own, he managed to employ a variety of legal and illegal efforts to rescue a collection of celebrated scientists, intellectuals, and artists, as well as everyday refugees from across Europe. Varian is the second play in A Resilience Trilogy by Michael London.

The creation of this play is the result of a special grant through the Innovation Grant program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.

No cost. RSVP below. Questions? Contact Cathy Gardner at cgardner@jfgd.net.