displeyst

a family's search for home across three occupations

Austria, Early 1900s.


Three generations of the Welisch family carried one story across three occupations. Their voices hold memories of flight and survival, displacement and resilience. What they left behind in Austria. What they endured in the Philippines under Japanese rule. What they rebuilt when liberation brought new uncertainty.

Margaret Welisch's 1981 diary entries become her daughters' oral histories become one family's testament to the power of love over loss. Through their exact words gathered across decades, Displeyst transforms personal memory into shared understanding—revealing how families preserve identity when home becomes wherever they can hold each other.


Written by Ash Singer

Based on oral and written testimony from Margaret Welisch, Gitta Wachs & Stephen Ettinger

Run time of 75 minutes

Community response

Displeyst has fostered meaningful connections with Holocaust education organizations, Jewish cultural centers, and refugee resettlement groups. Post-show conversations have featured Holocaust survivors, including Gitta Wachs (Margaret's daughter) and Stephen Ettinger (Margaret's grandson), creating intergenerational dialogue about memory, survival, and the ongoing relevance of displacement stories.

The production has served educational institutions through workshops exploring family history preservation and the intersection of personal testimony with historical documentation. Community partners have included the East Meadow Library, Holocaust memorial organizations, and immigrant advocacy groups who recognize the play's contemporary resonance with current displacement crises.

Audience members frequently share how the intimate scale of one family's journey helps them process larger historical traumas while connecting to their own family migration stories. The production's focus on three generations of women has particularly resonated with families navigating cultural preservation across displacement and assimilation.

What people are saying

“A play that is more in keeping with the times than we can comfortably admit.”

— Salons for Life

Production History

May 2019: original production at Under St. Marks Theatre, New York City. Directed by Ashley Adelman. Stage Managed by Tobie Goldberg. Featuring Kate Szekely, Blake Irving, Caroline Peters, Niki Hatzidis, Andrew Dunn, and Marcy Agreen. Talk-backs featured Holocaust survivors Gitta Wachs (Margaret's daughter) and Stephen Ettinger (Margaret's grandson).

December 2020: feature-length film presentation for the East Meadow Library. Directed by Jessica Schechter. Stage Managed by Tobie Goldberg. Starring Kate Szekely, Andrew Dunn, Kelly Teaford, and Ashley Adelman. Edited by Andrew Dunn.