The remarkable story of a courageous group of university students who stood up against the Nazi regime will come to life in November when First Stage performs the “Rose of Treason.”
The play is about the White Rose Society resistance group in 1943 at the University of Munich that distributed anti-Nazi leaflets. The 90-minute play will be shown on six dates at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, with assistance from Jewish community partners, starting on Friday, Nov. 7. The performance is also in partnership with the Violins of Hope residency presented by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.
“The play is really about resistance,” said Reva Fox, arts and culture director at Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, who is directing the play. “It’s about resisting your comfortable life when it’s time to take a stand. It’s about standing with a group of people who you may not be a part of, but you understand that what’s happening to them is wrong.”
The story about a group of non-Jewish individuals who were attempting to help strangers is relevant today with the rise in antisemitism across the nation and around the globe.
“Jewish communities today value allies who stand with us in challenging times,” said Sam Goldberg, the director of education at Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center.
One of the important elements of the story is that many of those held in concentration camps were largely unaware that the Allied Forces were fighting for them or that groups like the White Rose Society existed.
“Some of the leaflets that were being passed around from the White Rose Society did find their way into concentration camps,” Fox said. “So the relief that someone must have felt to have seen this coming from the outside world and knowing that people were fighting for them must have been so important, so powerful.”
The play will be performed by First Stage’s Young Company, a group of young actors. These actors have gone through First Stage Academy and have dedicated their time and energy to learn about theater and performing arts.
HERC hosted a one-hour training with the actors where they learned about the Violins of Hope, the Nazi attack on art and culture during the 1930s and the White Rose Society.
“We talked a little bit about the different forms of resistance from both Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals,” Goldberg said. “It helped them to contextualize the history in a way that they might not get just by reading the play.”
After the production on Nov. 9, a talkback will be held. That date is also the day of remembrance for Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass.
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How to go
“The Rose of Treason”
Opening Night: Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at 7 p.m.
Additional shows: Nov. 8–9 and 14–16, with multiple performances each day.
Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St.
Tickets and info: FirstStage.org
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