When people think of the Holocaust, they often picture haunting images of prisoners behind barbed wires, emaciated, desperate, and dehumanized. Here There Are Blueberries written by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich forces audiences to confront a different kind of horror: the ordinariness of those who committed it. 

From November 7-9, The Benjamin Theater Company became the first high school in the nation to perform  Here There Are Blueberries, a documentary style play that challenges audience members to confront complicity and responsibility. The company presented one in-school performance, a Saturday matinee, and an evening show followed by a panel discussion titled from Evidence to Understanding: What We Do With What We See. 

The play centers on a real photo album sent to the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, an album created by Karl-Friedrich Hocker, an SS officer and assistant to Auschwitz commandant Richard Baer. As the museum’s archivists sift through its contents, they discover snapshots of leisure: Nazi officers laughing and sharing meals just beyond the walls of a death camp. There are no prisoners, no violence, simply humans appearing disturbingly at ease amid unimaginable atrocity. 

Director of Theater Mr. Jason Peck was immediately drawn to the story, not only because of its historical importance but because of the questions it asks of those who watch it. 

“Blueberries doesn’t tell you what to think; it asks you to reflect. That kind of work, deep, human and questioning, felt right for our students and our community this year,” Mr. Peck said.

For Mr. Peck, the play was also personal. 

“I’m the grandchild of an Auschwitz survivor,” he explained. “A board member from my theatre company up in Connecticut told me about this play when it was just an idea. I was transfixed, especially because of my family’s history. I followed the project for years, and when I realized that the managing director of Tectonic Theater Company [the group that developed Blueberries] was someone I had worked with at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, I reached out.”

After months of correspondence, Tectonic granted Benjamin special permission to produce its play before the official licensing release in 2026. 

“To be the first is both thrilling and humbling. There’s no blueprint, no other school to look to, and no model of how it’s ‘supposed’ to be done. Our students aren’t just performing a play – they are helping shape how Here There Are Blueberries will live in educational theater going forward. It’s a huge responsibility, but also a beautiful one,” Mr. Peck shared. 

That sense of responsibility guided every step of the process. 

“We started with education, context first, performance later. The students learned about the Auschwitz Album, the people in the photograms, and how Tectonic creates theater from real events. Then we used our own technique, Moment Work, to explore how light, sound, movement and space can tell a story without relying on heavy emotion. That process helped them connect deeply while staying grounded in respect and truth,” Mr. Peck expressed. 

For senior Sage Ponchock, who portrayed both archivist Rebecca Erbelding and Holocaust survivor Lili Jacob, the experience was transformative in more ways than one. Ponchock hadn’t been on stage since her first-grade talent show, yet her performance carried the emotional center of the play. 

“Rebecca is curious, ambitious, trusting, and hopeful. She truly empathizes with everyone around her, and that’s part of what makes the Höcker story so impactful: the horror. She wants so badly to have faith in humanity, but these people prove to her that evil does exist.” Portraying Lili Jacob, however, was something different entirely. “Lili is a real person, a Holocaust survivor, and portraying her was an incredible honor and an incredible challenge. I spent hours watching interviews of hers, one of them over two hours long, trying to understand her feelings and mannerisms. I wanted to honor her story, not perform it,” Ponchock explained. 

Acting allowed Ponchock to develop a new sense of empathy. 

“I had to look inward and think, what would I have done in this situation? How would I have reacted? Each one of us has the capacity to do horrible things, and only through introspection and education can atrocities be avoided,” Ponchock said. 

While the play’s emotional resonance rested largely in the voice of the characters, its visual storytelling was equally striking. The production relied heavily on projections of the real Auschwitz Album photographs, layered over a minimalist set. 

Freshman Cameron Lencheski, who designed the proscenium with victims of the Holocaust noted that her visit to the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Tower of Faces” inspired this idea.

“I wanted people to literally see who this play was put on for. Every photograph represents a life, a story cut short. For me, I’ve always believed a picture says a thousand words, and I wanted the audience to feel surrounded by those lives,” Lencheski noted.

Sophomore Alex Harris, who portrayed Tillman, a descendant of a Nazi doctor, felt that the show’s documentary nature challenged him to stay truthful rather than perform for effect. 

“We weren’t just reporting history. We had to feel the weight of witnessing it. I hope people took away from the play that those people in the photos are just like us. If we fall to the same propaganda we can become them. We have to think for ourselves and not just look at one side of history,” Harris shared. 

Following the final show, audience members stayed for a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Charles Hagy, Head of the Middle School, who felt that the evening beautifully bridged between art and action. 

“Mr. Peck worked hard to bring the first-ever secondary school performance of this production to Benjamin. He very much wanted it to be a starting point for dialogue, and that’s exactly what it became. Through their beautifully crafted and stirring performances, our theater company students have made a significant and lasting impact on our community, both through the artistry of their work and, perhaps more importantly, the conversations they have initiated,’’ Hagy expressed. 

Mr. Hagy went on to describe the meaning behind the panel’s title, From Evidence to Understanding: What We Do With What We See.

“This discussion wasn’t just about theater or history. The play asks, what does it mean to witness something and do nothing? And the panel continued that conversation, exploring the themes of choice, indifference, and trauma, questions that are still very much alive in our world today. The evening reminded us that education and empathy must go hand in hand and our students modeled what that looks like,” Hagy said. 

Panelsists included Holocaust scholars, educators and community leaders from across South Florida, among them representatives from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jewish Family Services, and the Palm Beach Fellowship of Christian and Jews.

Panelist and child survivor Char Plotsky concluded the evening with a message that truly encapsulated the theme of Blueberries. “Do not be a bystander,” she urged. “Build kindness and compassion into your daily life.”

Here There are Blueberries concluded the Benjamin Theater Company’s fall season. The company now turns its focus to its spring musical, Into the Woods.

Based on a true story, Here  There Are Blueberries is a piece of documentary theatre written by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich. It details a museum’s momentous discovery of a photo album from the Holocaust. What made this photo album in particular so groundbreaking was that it belonged to a perpetrator known to be the right-hand-man of  the commandant of Auschwitz. The play is unique in the sense that it conveys the story with the use of innovative staging techniques such as projected images, depictions of real interviews, and accurate photos.

The cast immediately grabbed the attention of the audience within the first queue. Just the music that played upon entering the stage set the tone of the narrative. Stage management by Anabelle Persson, Betsy Farmer, Michael Alvarez, and Emma Eidelman brought a very versatile and lived-in feel to the set that worked perfectly for the tone of the play. All scene changes were very smooth and seamless. The office had a sort of organized clutter that, though simple, gave the set character. Additionally, the ensemble felt very cohesive, natural, and brought to the tone. Due to the versatility of the costumes, they worked great in some aspects but could’ve done a little bit more when it came to differentiating the characters.

Sage Ponchock’s performance was absolutely captivating! The progression of her emotional arc throughout the show really brought the audience in. Her shift from the character Rebecca Erbelding to Lili Jacob, which are extremely different characters, was effortless. With just her voice and facial expressions the switch from one character to another was clear. Alex Harris’ performance as Tillman Taube was great. His line delivery really added emphasis to each of his roles. Ava Shawe’s performances as Sara Bloomfield, and particularly Helferin’s Relative, were memorable. Lucas Sanchez as Rainer Hoss elegantly portrayed the deep down fear of family trauma being passed down. This added an emotional depth to his character. Notable mentions would also go to Ilia Peck and Isabella Anthon. Ilia Peck as Judy Cohen was a role that really stuck out, especially in the delivery of lines. Isabella Anthon’s monologue as Melina was definitely a memorable aspect.

Overall, The Benjamin School’s production of Here There Are Blueberries successfully captivated the audience, brought them back in time, and conveyed the message significantly. It wonderfully carried out the message of the play: “That’s the thing about history. Not all of it is knowable.”