New Developments:
Rehearsed play reading 3/23/24 in Cape Town, South Africa. See press release.

Staged reading 2/4/24 in Sheffield, England. Photos and reviews.
See poster.

“I want to kindle every human being to become a flame, shining its fiery essence from within.”

September 15 – 24, 2023

Seven performances in three venues. Full houses. Standing ovations. Rave reviews. Lives changed.

One of the most influential spiritual teachers of the 20th century,
joins with the Archangel Michaél to confront mysterious demons
in 1923 Europe, as the Nazi party is just beginning to emerge.

Read REVIEWS by Aaron Mirkin, by Eugene Schwartz, in the Eurythmy¹ Association² newsletter³ and a related lecture by Andrew Wolpert.

See the program cover and back, notes and headshots, cast, production team and background notes.

To see more production photos, click here or scroll down.

Members of the ensemble

CAST
Archangel  Michaél – Zachary Dolphin
Rudolf Steiner – Peter Josephson
Marie Steiner – Laurie Portocarrero
Ita Wegman – Rosibel Mejia
Fräulein Samwaller, “Sam” – Kayla Hope Nicosia
Edith Maryon – Faith DiVecchio
Ehrenfried Pfeiffer – Liam McGilligan
Günther Wachsmuth – Dhruva Corrigan
Elisabeth Vreede – Catherine Decker
Grand Master – Vincent Roppolo
Secret Brother – Marke Levene
eurythmist Sam – Sea-Anna Vasilas (9/15-23)
– Victoria Sander (9/24)
Klingsor – Zachary Dolphin
Voice of  Michaél – Marke Levene
Green Demons – Victoria Sander, Sea-Anna Vasila, Kayla Hope Nicosia, Faith DiVecchio, Catherine Decker, Liam McGilligan
Cello – Nathaniel Drake
Gongs, chimes and sound effects – Berenika Lehrman

Production team

Set Design – Gary Osborne
Costume Design – Peggy Walsh
Lighting Design – Deena Pewtherer
Original Music – Nathaniel Drake
Stage Manager – Henry DiVecchio
Production Manager
– Patrick Doyle
Executive Producer
and General Manager
– Glen Williamson
Assistant Lighting Designer
– Patrick Doyle
Set Construction
– Nathaniel Blachere
Props, Sound and Light Crew
– Berenika Lehrman
Lighting for Kimberton and Spring Valley performances – Ethan Sudan
Eurythmy Choreography – Sea-Anna Vasilas, Zachary Dolphin, John McManus and Victoria Sander
Additional Costumes – Berenika Lehrman, Zachary Dolphin, Sea-Anna Vasilas and Eurythmy Spring Valley
Casting – John McManus, Laurie Portocarrero, Robert Karp,
Glen Williamson
Stage-Masking Drapes – Arla Trusiewicz
Videography – Sergio Rico
Photographer – Catherine D Smith
Preliminary Music Composition – Sharon Inglis
Poster Design – Adam Agee
Program Design – Kayla Hope Nicosia
Website – Nelson Fredsell, Glen Williamson
Promotional Videos – Frank Agrama, Siegfried Heep, Tobias Jelinek, Pete Lemire
Fundraising – Debra Agee, Ann-Elizabeth Barnes, Barbara Renold,
Glen Williamson, Marke Levene, Barbara Richardson
Publicity – Glen Williamson, Ann-Elizabeth Barnes
Originating Team – Barbara Renold, Marke Levene, Barbara Richardson, Charlie Burkam, Glen Williamson
Assistant Producer – Henry DiVecchio
Mentor to the Producer – Marke Levene
Assistant to the Producer – Debra Agee

This production was made possible through the generous contribution of many hours, goods, skills and services by many many people, and through the financial contributions of over 250 individuals, organizations and groups. Please click Acknowledgments to honor them.

View Financial Report

Production photos by Catdodge Photography

Crafted from actual events and discourse, Fire in the Temple, dramatizes Rudolf Steiner’s final months and brings to the stage the people around him, including two extraordinary women, Marie Steiner von Sivers and Dr. Ita Wegman, both of whom stood by him until the very day of his death – and beyond. Their personal conflicts, hopes and sorrows are sensitively portrayed in this rigorously researched drama.

Laurie Portocarrero and Glen Williamson, with eurythmists Sea-Anna Vasilas and Zachary Dolphin, developed this play – through numerous revisions and staged readings – for several years before director John McManus staged a full-cast professional production in September, 2023, in Copake and Spring Valley, NY, and in Kimberton Hills, PA. The director and playwright tightened the script to a dynamic ensemble performance. Previous readings of the script in Copake, NY; Beaver Run, PA; Los Angeles; Santa Cruz; Sacramento; Boulder and Denver; Hudson, NY; Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont had drawn profound and encouraging responses and anticipation of the full production.

• Seven performances, September 15 – 24, 2023:
• Friday, Saturday, Sunday, September 15, 16, 17 in Fountain Hall, Camphill USA, Copake , NY
• Wednesday, September 20 in Rose Hall, Camphill Kimberton Hills
• Friday and Saturday, September 22 and 23 in Threefold Auditorium, Spring Valley, NY
• Sunday, September 24 in Fountain Hall, Camphill USA, Copake, NY

Audience responses to Fire in the Temple readings

“—meticulously researched
—artistically crafted
—stunningly performed
. . . a powerful feeling for the weaving of destiny.”

  – Gloria Kemp, Waldorf-education consultant

“Truly amazing. I sat mesmerized. . . [it] was so full and the images captivating. I am still feeling the effects from it. . . beautiful experience. It will be with me for some time!!!” 

– Diane Prusha, Actress,
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA 

“It was deeply moving…wonderfully written…and the same questions live today… With tears I’m asking: Will we awake?”

                         – Irena Valujeva, Camphill USA

“True and compassionate writing.”

“I knew all of this, but this play brings it all together in a vivid and moving story.”

“The message, that Christ’s light combats the forces of darkness, comes through loud and clear.”

“Now I feel I’ve really met Rudolf Steiner.”

“Truly redemptive.”

“This needs to be seen.”

and from our team . . .

“It is an extraordinary play that has been enthusiastically received as an epic of superb storytelling during its numerous two- and four-person play-reading performances over the past three years. Now, our task is to turn this successful play-reading epic into a dramatic piece of theater with a full ensemble cast.”
     – John McManus, Director

“I believe that artistic activity, through this play, can greatly enhance our experience of these momentous historical events and relationships.”
     – Barbara Renold, Director and Producer
of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas

Acknowledgments

Rehearsal Space and Scene Shop –  Patrick Doyle/CometTime Studio

Catering – The Farmers’ Feast, Inc. (Ben Bruckenthal), Tyler’s Kitchen (Tyler Cluthe), Philmont Cooperative, Lightforce Bakery (Koenraad Van Der Meer), Molly Park and Copake Camphill Village Green, Sherry Wildfeuer and Kimberton Hills Camphill Café, Jesse Webster and Threefold Café

Venue Hosts and House Managers – Copake: Emily Gerhard, Lee Edwards, Ann-Elizabeth Barnes; Kimberton: Sherry Wildfeuer; Spring Valley: Eric Silber

Fiscal Sponsors – Lemniscate Arts, Inc. and Threefold Educational Foundation

Generous donations from over 250 individuals, organizations and groups made this production possible. Scroll down to see Donors list.

This production has also received indispensable “in-kind” contributions of goods and services from: Alice Groh, Deborah Agee, Camphill Copake, Camphill Kimberton Hills, Threefold Educational Foundation, Lemniscate Arts, Inc., CometTime Studio, Stageworks/Hudson, David Schwartz, Arla and Bill Trusiewicz, John Alexandra, Stu Summer, Anne-Elizabeth Barnes, Ted Pugh, Tara Performing Arts High School, John McManus, Gary Osborne, Peggy Walsh, Meg Carlon, Lynda Billheimer

Thanks for the professional services of: Shakespeare and Company, Rose Brand, Theatrix, Penske truck rental, Pro Printers in Hudson, Minuteman printers in Boulder, Theo Groh and Wheelhouse Web Solutions Wheelhouseweb.com, John-Scott Legg and Cliff Venho of SteinerBooks

And for practical and artistic preparation and example: The Actors’ Ensemble, Walking the dog Theater, Shakespeare Alive, LaurieStoryteller, Spring Valley Eurythmy and Spring Valley Mystery Drama Group

Special thanks to Robb Creese, James Dyson, Jane Kosminsky, Eric Swanson, Toni Tunney, Marianna Rosett, James Luse, Sherry Wildfeuer, Gillian Schoemaker, Sheila Landahl, Richarda Abrams, Susan Willerman, Anne Newgarden, James Luse, Dorothea Mier, Brigida Baldszun, Paul Newton, John Prestianni, Jonathan Fluck, Kathryn Markey, Lisa Tracy Tabor, David Fairclough, Roxanne Leonard, David Adams, Richard Ramsbotham and Marc Clifton for working through, critiquing and encouraging early drafts.

Special thanks to David Newbatt for permission to sell prints of his painting of the burning of the Goetheanum,  to Ruediger Janisch for consulting with the set designer and the playwright on the history and meaning of the Goetheanum and to Bill Hutchins, architectural consultant.

The playwright is also indebted to Dr. James Dyson and to Christof-Andreas and Norma Lindenburg and many others for years of deep conversations about the content of this play.

Donors
This production was made possible by the generosity of the following individuals, groups and foundations:
Counselors Adventure, Susanna Abarbanel, Debra Agee, Richard Ailes, Peggy Alesandri, John Alexandra, Guy Alma, Tom Altgelt, David (DC) Anderson, Anonymous, Anonymous, Anonymous, Richard and Mary Baggott, Jaqueline Beecher, Kelly Beekman, Benedicta Bertau, Jacquelyn Bieringer, Jennifer Bingham, Joya Birns, Barbara Bittles, Nancy Blanning, Christina Bould, Dwight Branscombe, Cathleen Brauen, Judith Brockway, Cindy Brooks, Jennifer Brown, Dale Brunsvold, Matt Cain, Thesa Callinicos, Diane Caracciolo, Margaret Carlson, Larry Carter, Jacqueline Case, Esther Centers, Sonni Chamberland, Adrienne Chapman, Michael Chase, Sara Ciborski, Laurie and Tom Clark, Susan Clee, Janet Clement, Lindsey Cole, Megan Collins, Heather Coon, Joanne Cooney, Robert Cornett, Robb Creese, Karin Cseak, Gayle Davis, Gregg Davis, Kerst de Jong, Christian de la Barra, Denver Branch, Anthroposophical Society, Karen Derreumaux, Lisa Devine, Charlie Doheny, Lilith and Sebastien Dupuis , James Dyson, Timothy Dziedzic, Sandra Eastburn Weil, Susann Eddy, Susan Elmore, Jim and Karen Emerson, Jim Emerson, Deborah Enright, Jan Øystein Eriksen, Patricia Fenkell, Virginia Flynn, Raimond Flynn, Andrea Foster, Roger Fox, Ryan Freeman, Noris Friedman, Bruce Frishkoff, Joanna Gabler, Greer Galloway, Andrea Gambardella, Andrea Gambardella, Sarah Gamble, Leif Garbisch, Adrianne Gardner, Laura Geilen, Neil Golder, Deborah Grace, Glynn and Anthony Graham, Frederica Graham, Melissa Greer, James Griffin, Mary Louise Griffin, Alice Groh, Sarnia Guiton, Ursula Gullasch, Lynn Gumbert, Nicola Hain, Karin Haldeman, Joe and Diane Haley, Joseph Haley, Susan Harrington, Susan Harrington, Paul and Jonitha Hasse, Gunther Hauk, Ute Hauser, Kristin Hawkins, Jason Healy, Robert Heberton, Diedra Heitzman, Constance Helms, Julie Henderson, Robyn Henry, Virginia Hermann, Franziska Hesse, Sue Hill, Jim and Vicki Hindes, James Hindes, Peggy Hirt, Henrike Holdrege, Michael Hoy, Helena Hurrell, Christine Huston, Cynthia Hutchison, Melody Irle, Donald Jamison, Rudiger Janisch, Claire Jerram, Edwin Johnson, J Eileen Jones, Seth Jordan, Marie-Claire Joubert, Robert Karp, Carol Kelly, Gloria Kemp, Elizabeth Kent, Robert King, Raphael Knauf, Ron Koetzsch, Charlotte Landgraf, Cordelia Lane, John-Scott Legg, Pete Lemire, Gili Lev, Melania Levitsky, Catherine Linde, Norma Lindenberg, Jennifer Locke, Joanne and Arnold Logan, Martha Loving Orgain, Peter Luborsky, Paul Lynch, Christa Macbeth, James and Rachel Madsen, Malana Maher, Patrice Maynard, Nancy McMahon, Tom Mellett, Maria Paula Mello, Melissa Merkling, Margrit Metraux, Gregory Moore, S Moss, Natasha Moss, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Davina Muse, Margareta Nadelle, Caroline Oneill, Esha Oyarijivbie, Timothy Paholak, Pamphalon Foundation, Barbara Patterson, Grace Ann Peysson, SS Playfoot, Christina Porkert, Bridget Qualey, Gina Qualliotine, Merlyn Querido, Wende Ractliffe, Elizabeth Radysh, Wolodymyr and Astrid Radysh, Kristin Ramsden, Anna and Brian Rée, George and Melissa Reitnour, Barbara Renold, Anne Riegel, George Riley, Elizabeth Rivers, Roswitha Robinson, Wanda Root, Margaret Rosenthaler, rudolfsteineraudio.com, George and Leonore Russell, George Russell, Becky Rutherford, Katherine Rycroft, Janet Sabb, Jeffrey Saunders, Caron and Dennis Scanlon, Angus Scanlon, Signe Schaefer, Veronica Schlegel, Douglas Schmolze, Steffen Schneider, Gillian Schoemaker, Lauren Schowe, Eugene Schwartz, SE PA Branch, Anthroposophical Society, Martee Seuss, Margaret Shipman, Gillian Shoemaker, Cheryl Short-Lee, Martin Silvan, Cathy SimsONeil, Heather Skilling, Alice Sky, Wendy Smallridge, Anke Smeele, Brenda Smith, Lynda Smith, Christina Sophia, Joanne Spitaliere, Stephen Spitalny, Alice Stamm, Rudolf Steiner Charitable Trust, Marta Stemberger, Shaina Stoehr, Sandra Stoner, Christa Stosiek, Mariola Strahlberg, Laura Summer , Stuart Summer, Richard Swerling, John Takacs, Threefold Youth, David and Lila Tresemer, Tra-Ling Tu, Elizabeth Uppenbrink, Ivilisse Venho, Les Vivian, Michael Vode, Beatrice Voigt, Pat Whitehead, Sherry Wildfeuer, Mary Wildfeuer, Louise Williamson, Bernard & Else Wolf, Deborah Wright, Kathleen Wright, Tamsen Ann Ziff, Robert Zima

View Financial Report