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The Legacy of Hershel Zohn
The Hershel Zohn Theatre is named after Hershel Zohn, a man largely credited with bringing theatre to Las Cruces.
Born in the shtetl of Sinyava, Ukraine, Hershel’s family left Russia after World War I when the Russian Civil War left them without a livelihood, and the pogroms endangered their lives.
His new life in New York City was an adventure in survival, but with promise for the future. Hershel became enamored with stage plays and eventually joined both the Vardi-Yoalit Theatre Studio and the Yiddish Art Theatre, among others.
World War II and the army interrupted his theatrical career, but reinforced his belief that educational theatre was the theatre of the future. He accepted the position of theatre director at New Mexico A&M (now New Mexico State University) in September, 1950. The theater building was over 50 years old, in ill-repair, and had practically no resources for building scenery or costumes.
Beginning with Anouilh’s Antigone and Candida by George Bernard Shaw, Hershel began a legacy of producing shows that highlighted new and classic plays, creating one of the most outstanding educational theatres in the Southwest. Under his leadership, The Playmakers (as the department’s thespian troupe was known) was the first educational theatre to produce War and Peace and Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet. They toured United States military bases for 55 days in the Far East with The Matchmaker in 1963.
Hershel retired from NMSU in 1975. Shortly thereafter, the new NMSU theater building was named in his honor. In 1992, he published a book of memoirs, All the World’s a Stage, published by Yucca Tree Press. In 2001, the Theatre Arts department created the Hershel Zohn Award, recognizing a student’s dedication to theatre production, education and service to the department. It is the department’s highest honor. Hershel Zohn passed away in 2001.
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