About this project

Shelley Mitchell’s TALKING WITH ANGELS, one of San Francisco’s most remarkable and critically acclaimed theatrical events, returns for 24 performances on March 24 at the Actors Center of San Francisco. TALKING WITH ANGELS is not a metaphor. It is an epic true story about four young artists’ search for guidance and survival during the Nazi occupation of Hungary in 1944.

TALKING WITH ANGELS is a monodrama elegantly adapted and brilliantly performed by Shelley Mitchell. She brings the true story of Gitta Mallasz, Hanna Dallos, Lili Strauss and Joseph Kreutzer to life with impeccable grace.

The diaries of these artists' give an account of their dialogue with invisible forces that appeared to them at the time as angels. In 1960 these diaries were smuggled into France by the only survivor of the group, Gitta Mallasz. It was first published in France in 1976  where it became an immediately best seller. It has sold over 800,000 copies in French and been translated into 14 languages. Talking with Angels was banned in Hungary until 1991 when the communist regime fell. Largely unknown in the USA and UK (only 12,000 copies sold in English!). Notable fans of the book include Juliette Binoche, Julia Roberts and Wings of Desire director Wim Wenders. Shelley was introduced to the book in 1982 while living in London and was immediately struck by it's theatrical potential.

Shelley's adaption of TALKING WITH ANGELS into a monodrama  based on the original diaries and extensive interviews with the book’s publisher, Jungian analysts, Robert Hinshaw and Lela Fischli of Daimon Press, Switzerland. It was originally staged by Robin Fontaine and this production will be directed by Audrey Tommassini. The production manager and co-producer is Janet Parker.

Shelley has performed TALKING WITH ANGELS throughout the United States and in Europe at the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Dutch Theater Festival. In 2000 TALKING WITH ANGELS tapped into San Francisco’s heart and won Best of the Fringe Theater festival. In 2001 and 2002 Parabola Magazine sponsored performances in New York City. In 2003 TALKING WITH ANGELS was featured at the Joseph Campbell Centennial in Atlanta and in 2005 the California Institute of Integral Studies produced it at the Theater Artaud. Last year Shelley Mitchell gave a showcase performance of it at Daryl Roth’s DR2 Theater in New York and the Dutch Theater festival in Amsterdam.

TALKING WITH ANGELS has received glowing reviews at every turn. Dr. John Beebe, former president of the Carl Jung Institute of San Francisco said, "...Shelley has such an alchemical gift for performance that one would have to reach back in time, and to the medium of film- to Joanne Woodward in "The Three Faces of Eve," or John Barrymore in the 1920 silent "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"- to find a parallel for this actor's ability to transform from one character to another. ...If it is relatively rare to come away from theater genuinely moved, it is even rarer to emerge from a play with the sense of having experieinced a spiritual infusion. Yet that is the effect of this play and this performance."

Now, in 2011, we are bringing the magic of TALKING WITH ANGELS to the stage once more at The Actors Center of San Francisco, 180 Capp Street, San Francisco CA 94110

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from March 24 to May 21

In order to go ahead with production, we need your help!

Your contribution will help us to pay for the theater rental, promotional materials, production manager and a new visual design to enhance the audience's experience and connection to the spirit that fills TALKING WITH ANGELS.

Starting at a $50 donation, we would like to invite you and a guest to come enjoy the show at a discounted ticket price.

Ultimately, our overall goal is to reach as many people as possible with the message and beauty of this story and to preserve the legacy of the true life artists who inspired the play. You can see what we've been doing so far at http://www.talkingwithangels.com