
2015 HEAR Now Festival Featured
Programming
Never Again War:
The Sacrfice of Käthe Kollwitz
Friday, June 12th, 3:30pm-5:00pm
World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
This program is free and open to the public
in the Auditorium of the WWI Museum
Purchase an ALL ACCESS FESTIVAL PASS, to attend any of our other events, or select individual tickets to specific events you want to attend:
Individual Event Ticket Costs:
$8.00 per 90 minute "listening event" in Cinemark Theaters
$30.00 per 5 sessions (FIVE 90 minute "listening events" in Cinemark Theaters)
$15.00 for Thursday Night Opening event - Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil
$15.00 for Saturday Afternoon Reading With Your Ears: The Art of the Audiobook
(This program is free with a Kansas City library RSVP.)
$15.00 for Saturday Night AUDIO Tonight!
$15.00 for Closing Brunch and Awards Ceremony
The following programs are free and require no tickets: Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Kathe Kollwitz and Celebrating Mark Twain.
Programming
Never Again War:
The Sacrfice of Käthe Kollwitz
Friday, June 12th, 3:30pm-5:00pm
World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
This program is free and open to the public
in the Auditorium of the WWI Museum
Purchase an ALL ACCESS FESTIVAL PASS, to attend any of our other events, or select individual tickets to specific events you want to attend:
Individual Event Ticket Costs:
$8.00 per 90 minute "listening event" in Cinemark Theaters
$30.00 per 5 sessions (FIVE 90 minute "listening events" in Cinemark Theaters)
$15.00 for Thursday Night Opening event - Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil
$15.00 for Saturday Afternoon Reading With Your Ears: The Art of the Audiobook
(This program is free with a Kansas City library RSVP.)
$15.00 for Saturday Night AUDIO Tonight!
$15.00 for Closing Brunch and Awards Ceremony
The following programs are free and require no tickets: Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Kathe Kollwitz and Celebrating Mark Twain.
Never Again War
a new audio play by Helen Engelhardt
Presented as a live performance in the auditorium at WWI Museum
Featuring Yelena Shmulsenson, Robert Fass, and guest Scott Brick, Never Again War takes us into the mind of German artist and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz, from the beginning of WWI in 1914 through her death in 1945, and examines her renowned work as a social activist dedicated to depicting the lives of the working poor. This performance will feature live and recorded elements from the play along with a special short video presentation on the art and life of Käthe Kollwitz courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "The Artist Project." |

Helen Engelhardt (playwright)
Helen Engelhardt is an author, poet, storyteller and independent audio artist whose work has often reflected the needs for social justice in the U.S. and around the world. She has been active in peace, justice and environmental causes for over thirty years.
Her original play "Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Käthe Kollwitz" began as a stage production and has recently been developed into a new audio play for public radio.
Helen Engelhardt is an author, poet, storyteller and independent audio artist whose work has often reflected the needs for social justice in the U.S. and around the world. She has been active in peace, justice and environmental causes for over thirty years.
Her original play "Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Käthe Kollwitz" began as a stage production and has recently been developed into a new audio play for public radio.
Featured In the Cast:

Yelena Shmulenson (Käthe Kollwitz)
Yelena Shmulenson emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1993 from Simferopol, Ukraine. She decided to become an actress instead of getting a real job, and now spends her life making silly faces. Her theater credits include five seasons with the Folksbiene, two seasons at the Ellis Island Theatre, “Enemies: A Love Story” in Russian, Frank (‘Klezmatics’) London’s musical of “A Night In the Old Marketplace”, and “The Essence: A Yiddish Theater Dim Sum”, which was a big hit in Sweden.
On film, she was a spy in Robert DeNiro’s “The Good Shepherd”, she played Lady Capulet in “Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish”, she burned in “Fire At The Triangle” (PBS), and she fought a dybbuk in the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man”.
She can be heard in the NPR radio drama ”The Witches of Lublin” (with Tovah Feldshuh) as Leah, the bass-playing Witch. She has also recorded several audio books, winning the Earphones Award for her recordings of “Train to Trieste” and Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” and “Rosa”. Her next audiobook “Two Rings” will be released in March 2012, and she will be seen on Season Three of “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO). She is fluent in five languages.
Interweaving elements of her own experience as a Russian-Jewish immigrant with the story of the life of American Jewish housewife and executed spy Ethel Rosenberg, Yelena plans to create a one-woman Off-Broadway show based on Rosenberg’s life and death.
Yelena Shmulenson emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1993 from Simferopol, Ukraine. She decided to become an actress instead of getting a real job, and now spends her life making silly faces. Her theater credits include five seasons with the Folksbiene, two seasons at the Ellis Island Theatre, “Enemies: A Love Story” in Russian, Frank (‘Klezmatics’) London’s musical of “A Night In the Old Marketplace”, and “The Essence: A Yiddish Theater Dim Sum”, which was a big hit in Sweden.
On film, she was a spy in Robert DeNiro’s “The Good Shepherd”, she played Lady Capulet in “Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish”, she burned in “Fire At The Triangle” (PBS), and she fought a dybbuk in the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man”.
She can be heard in the NPR radio drama ”The Witches of Lublin” (with Tovah Feldshuh) as Leah, the bass-playing Witch. She has also recorded several audio books, winning the Earphones Award for her recordings of “Train to Trieste” and Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” and “Rosa”. Her next audiobook “Two Rings” will be released in March 2012, and she will be seen on Season Three of “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO). She is fluent in five languages.
Interweaving elements of her own experience as a Russian-Jewish immigrant with the story of the life of American Jewish housewife and executed spy Ethel Rosenberg, Yelena plans to create a one-woman Off-Broadway show based on Rosenberg’s life and death.

Robert Fass (Peter Kollwitz)
With over 100 unabridged audiobooks to his credit, veteran actor Robert Fass has eight Audie award nominations and has received the award twice (for History and Audio Drama).
Robert has also earned multiple Earphones Awards, including for his narration of Francisco Goldman's novel SAY HER NAME, named one of the 10 Best Audiobooks of 2011 by AudioFile magazine—a list on which he also appeared in 2012 and 2013. Robert has given voice to modern and classic fiction writers alike, including Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Carlos Fuentes, Isaac Asimov, Ellery Queen, Steve Berry, Jeffrey Deaver, and Nele Neuhaus, plus bestselling nonfiction works in history, politics, health, journalism, philosophy, and business.
Robert is also the author of the award-winning children’s radio drama, THE HAUNTED DOGHOUSE.
With over 100 unabridged audiobooks to his credit, veteran actor Robert Fass has eight Audie award nominations and has received the award twice (for History and Audio Drama).
Robert has also earned multiple Earphones Awards, including for his narration of Francisco Goldman's novel SAY HER NAME, named one of the 10 Best Audiobooks of 2011 by AudioFile magazine—a list on which he also appeared in 2012 and 2013. Robert has given voice to modern and classic fiction writers alike, including Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Carlos Fuentes, Isaac Asimov, Ellery Queen, Steve Berry, Jeffrey Deaver, and Nele Neuhaus, plus bestselling nonfiction works in history, politics, health, journalism, philosophy, and business.
Robert is also the author of the award-winning children’s radio drama, THE HAUNTED DOGHOUSE.

Scott Brick (Hans & Karl Kollwitz)
Scott Brick has recorded bestsellers for every major publisher, over 700 titles including JURASSIC PARK, MYSTIC RIVER, FAHRENHEIT 451, IN COLD BLOOD and HELTER SKELTER. An AudioFile Magazine Golden Voice, he’s received over 50 Earphones Awards, three Audie Awards, a Grammy nomination, and has twice been Publisher’s Weekly Audiobook Narrator of the Year. An active and passionate teacher, Scott recently wrote an intensely detailed and multi-media analysis of the narration process called NARRATING AUDIOBOOKS BRICK BY BRICK, debuting soon on his website (www.scottbrickpresents.com).
Scott Brick has recorded bestsellers for every major publisher, over 700 titles including JURASSIC PARK, MYSTIC RIVER, FAHRENHEIT 451, IN COLD BLOOD and HELTER SKELTER. An AudioFile Magazine Golden Voice, he’s received over 50 Earphones Awards, three Audie Awards, a Grammy nomination, and has twice been Publisher’s Weekly Audiobook Narrator of the Year. An active and passionate teacher, Scott recently wrote an intensely detailed and multi-media analysis of the narration process called NARRATING AUDIOBOOKS BRICK BY BRICK, debuting soon on his website (www.scottbrickpresents.com).

Sue Zizza (Director)
Sue is an audio producer, director, writer, and sound designer, and the owner of SueMedia Productions, a full service audio production company.
For more than 20 years Sue has produced award winning audio drama for public radio and audiobooks.
She is an Audie award winning producer of audiobooks, audio drama, radio plays and much more.
Her work has also been honored by The Gabriel’s, The International Festival of New York, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and the Communicator Awards.
Sue is an audio producer, director, writer, and sound designer, and the owner of SueMedia Productions, a full service audio production company.
For more than 20 years Sue has produced award winning audio drama for public radio and audiobooks.
She is an Audie award winning producer of audiobooks, audio drama, radio plays and much more.
Her work has also been honored by The Gabriel’s, The International Festival of New York, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and the Communicator Awards.
Special thanks to Midsummer Sound Company for their support of this production.