Concentration

Concentration by Arne Weingart is an adaptation of a book of poems, written as a dramatic monologue by a young poet from inside a World War II death camp. Fifty short, spare poems, voiced by five actors and accompanied by live musical interludes and striking visual effects, serve as a kind of journal—an imagined response to all-too-real and yet unthinkable events. Concentration is a dramatic meditation on keeping oneself alive, body and soul, as though our uncertain past were able to speak with clarity and compassion to our uncertain present.

Directed by Anna Gelman, a theater and film director, primarily focused in performance art and devised and experimental work. Gelman has created original productions including I Am Going To Die Alone and I Am Not Afraid (Prop Thtr) and Why Do You Always Wear Black? (Organic Theater), developed performer-driven projects including Lara Johnson’s Film is an Argument, and collaborated with The Neo-Futurists on How To Be Cool and SWITCHBOARD, which was remounted at Steppenwolf Lookout. In film, Gelman has directed music videos, narrative shorts, experimental documentary, and livestream, recently winning the Jury Award for Best Short Film at The Chicago Short Film Festival. She is an Artistic Associate of The Neo-Futurists, the Creative Producer and Director of Livestream at Mishkan Chicago, and a graduate of Oberlin College, where she studied poetry.