DRAMA THERAPY WORK
Witness Theater
A student and survivor share stories during a Witness Theater session
The Witness Theater survivors at havdala on a Yeshivah of Flatbush shabbaton
Claudine dresses Suzy in one of her handmade sweaters as Suzy prepares to take on the role of "Young Claudine"
Witness Theater was conceived and initiated by Irit and Ezra Dagan, and developed and expanded by JDC-Eshel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s elderly division in Israel. The program was initiated in New York City in 2012 by Selfhelp Community Services and is generously funded by UJA-Federation of New York through the Community Initiative for Holocaust Survivors (CIHS), the Jewish Communal Fund and a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (Claims Conference).
The Witness Theater program, now in its seventh year in New York, is an innovative and emotional intergenerational “journey” for Holocaust Survivors and high school students. Working together, the two generations elicit and expose the moving stories of survival and explore issues of war, loss and trauma.
Students and survivors meet in weekly two-hour sessions over the course of the academic year with a trained drama therapist and other program staff. The project culminates in a staged production with the students portraying the personal experiences of the group’s survivors, and the survivors narrating their own stories. The production is performed for the community and the student body in each high school location.
The program aims to involve Holocaust survivors in a therapeutic process designed to help them come to terms with their past, and to instill the memory of the Holocaust in the next generation. The public performances serve as a vehicle for the survivors’ testimonies to be heard by many and to witness the special connections made between the generations. Furthermore, the unique and original dramatic production that emerges out of the weekly group sessions creatively empowers the students to understand, describe and express the survivors’ stories.
Sally was the original drama therapist to facilitate this program in New York in 2012 at the Yeshivah of Flatbush HS. She is now the program's lead therapist and trains other drama therapists to facilitate the program at multiple other locations.
2015 Witness Theater Production
2016 “The Wisdom of Storytellers”
2018 “From Strength to Strength”
2020 “Ordinary Blessings - A Tribute Video” - During the COVID Era it was impossible to have a live production. This masterpiece was created instead!
2021 “Witness Theater: The Space Between Us” - When COVID restrictions moved our program into the virtual space, the results were equally meaningful and artistically stunning!
Friends & Feelings is a an original curriculum for 1st-3rd graders, which promotes healthy social and emotional skills among classmates. Created by Sally Shatzkes and facilitated by the Yeshivah of Flatbush ES guidance department, this program combines creative arts and counseling within a playful and structured environment. Friends & Feelings offers students an opportunity to find common ground with their classmates and to celebrate each others’ differences. The first grade program focuses on "friendship," the second grade on "perspectives," and the third grade on "teamwork." With the driving theme of Kindness and Respect for All, students in the Friends & Feelings program interact with each other through theater games, art, literature, storytelling, creative writing, and role play.
Friends & Feelings
The “Tommy and Amy Series”
Tommy and Amy visit the first grade
Amy celebrates with her first grade friends
In 2015 the acclaimed Friends & Feelings program joined forces with the Yeshivah of Flatbush's Flatbush Five program for a new spin on foundations of character in the classroom! The Flatbush Five values are Respect, Honesty, Kindness, Responsibility, and Humility and have been integrated into the school’s curriculum as a way to promote a hand-in-hand approach to values and academics.
Created by Sally Shatzkes, the “Tommy & Amy Series” is a collection of original and vibrant puppet skits that address each of the Flatbush Five traits, bringing to life the real scenarios that occur every day in school. "Tommy & Amy," have become the beloved the Flatbush Five Mascots and their pictures and mottos can be found in posters all over the school.
Every first and second grade class welcomes Tommy & Amy into their classrooms five times throughout the school year. Through the skits, as well as through interactive discussion and improvisation with the puppets, Sally encourages the students to notice familiar behaviors and how different situations can be handled appropriately using the Flatbush Five traits.
Students are frequently asking Sally “When are Tommy and Amy coming back to our class?!” Sally’s puppets have truly become like students in our school and have done a beautiful job teaching our students all about Respect, Honesty, Kindness, Responsibility and Humility.
KIDS SPEAK
Original magazine, Kids Speak group 3rd-5th grade girls, 2017
Kids Speak is an original, creative arts based program for children whose parents are separated or divorced. Kids Speak began in 2007 when it became clear that there was a need to address the topic of divorce within our school. With a growing number of students affected by divorce each year, the Kids Speak program aims to provide age- appropriate support to these students and their families within the school environment. To this end, students are grouped according to their grade and groups are facilitated through the use of Creative Arts Therapies. The curriculum for this program, created by Sally Shatzkes, includes storytelling, role play, claywork, puppets, theater games and other creative arts based techniques. Students develop relationships with each other and are encouraged to develop healthy communication and conflict resolution strategies within the group. The Kids Speak program recognizes the essential involvement of the parents in the emotional support for their children. As such, Kids Speak facilitators are in constant contact with the parents of their students and an annual workshop is held for all parents in the program.
Youth Torah classes
From the early age of 17 Sally has been teaching Saturday morning classes for young girls at her local synagogue. As her theater and drama therapy training progressed she began to integrate her skills into these classes. In 2014 Sally began teaching these classes at Congregation Beni Yitzhak, where she has 30-40 young girls attending each Saturday. Through bibliodrama and theater games Sally teaches Torah and Jewish values as well as foundations of character, empathy and kindness.
THEATER WORK
HEBREW PLAY
Fiddler on the Roof - "Kanar al Hagag"
Lion King - "Melech Ha'arayot"
CAMP MORASHA
Grease, Summer 2015
Sally works as a theater director in the Arts Department at The Yeshivah of Flatbush HS. As part of her work she directs the annual Jason Botnick Memorial Hebrew Play, a full length musical performed completely in hebrew. Many of the scripts she uses are original translations. Links to recent productions are below.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 2017
Other productions include: Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Little Shop of Horrors, A Broadway Revue, Grease and more.
Since 2015 Sally has been working as the head of the Camp Morasha drama department during the summers. There she teaches drama classes and directs three productions per summer, including one camp wide musical. Previous productions can be viewed below.
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, 2017
School of Rock, 2018
ORIGINAL WORKS
A Face in the Crowd, Yeshivah of Flatbush HS, Book Day 2015
These productions were created by Sally for the needs of the institutions in which they were performed. All works are copyrighted and owned by Sally Shatzkes. No material may be used or reproduced without the expressed written consent of Sally Shatzkes.
A Face in the Crowd, created for the 2015 Yeshivah of Flatbush HS Book Day for "Maus"
A Nation Apart, created for Camp Morasha's 2015 commemoration of Tisha B'av
In Every Generation, created for Camp Morasha's 2016 commemoration of Tisha B'av
Please Note, created for Camp Morasha's 2017 commemoration of Tisha B'av
We Are Here, created for Camp Morasha’s 2018 commemoration of Tisha B’av
Packed With Purpose, created for Camp Morasha’s 2021 commemoration of Tisha B’av
In Every Generation, directed during summer 2022 for Camp Morasha's commemoration of Tisha B'av
Second Glance directed during summer 2023 for Camp Morasha's commemoration of Tisha B'av