There are certain social horrors that seem to perpetuate themselves – bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, even genocide - are but a few examples. Theater and other creative arts struggle to tell tales that alert audiences to the problems. An issue storytellers face is how to keep the subject relevant without repeating the same tale over and over.
One of the great scars on the history of the last century is the Holocaust in which an estimated six-million Jews were murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
It’s a sad and potentially tragic fact that in recent years there has been an alarming rise in anti- Semitism. Barrington Stage’s Artistic Director Alan Paul says, “With the persistence of anti-Semitism in our country and around the world, we need to tell these stories to ensure people never forget the Holocaust."
His actions support those words. This Wednesday, May 24-June 17 BSC in Pittsfield, MA is producing “The Happiest Man on Earth” and June 14- July 8, Paul is directing the musical “Cabaret” at the theater.
By a serendipitous coincidence, the day after “Happiest Man on Earth” opens, this Thursday May 25 at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill opens the regional premiere of “East of Berlin.” It’s a play about how the Holocaust affected the generations that followed. It runs through June 4.
The artistic directors of both theaters are insistent that each play is a different look at the tragic event because they are about post-Holocaust consequences that are life affirming and healing.
“The Happiest Man on Earth” is adapted from the best-selling autobiography of Eddie Jaku. Now 100 years of age, Jaku tells of his time in Nazi concentration camps. His experiences while held captive, his many attempts to escape and his trying to find the will to survive.
In an email, Paul says, “I was surprised by Eddie Jaku's book, because even after living through the atrocities of the war and the unimaginable horrors of Auschwitz, he made the conscious decision to choose happiness. In that sense, the book and the play are a philosophical portrait of how we integrate what happens to us into our lives. Ultimately, Eddie's story is about the triumph of the human spirit.”
Jaku speaks for himself, when in the book and play he says, "... it was a miracle. In that one moment, my heart was healed and my happiness returned in abundance. From that day on I realised I was the luckiest man on Earth. I made the promise that from that day until the end of my life, I would be happy, polite, helpful and kind. I would smile."
However he also says, “So I hate no one, not even Hitler. I do not forgive him. If I forgive, I am a traitor to the six million who died..... When I say this, I speak for the six million who cannot speak for themselves. But I also live for them, and live the best life I can." “The Happiest Man on Earth” is an inspirational experience. It runs through June 17.
“East of Berlin” at Bridge Street is a psychological love story centered around generational guilt. It’s about a young German man, Rudi, who was raised by his loving father in Paraguay. After he learns his father was a Nazi SS doctor at Auschwitz, Rudi leaves and goes to live in Berlin hoping to find a way to atone for his father’s war crimes.
He meets and falls in love with Sarah, whose mother was a prisoner at Auschwitz. Sarah does not know the history of Rudi’s father. Complicating the situation, Rudi is having troubles reconciling the kind upbringing his father provided with the evil deeds he committed as a younger man.
Steven Patterson, a co-founder of Bridge Street, says they selected the play because he and his partner, John Sowle, share the belief that the current wave of anti-Semitism is a serious problem.
Patterson says, “’East of Berlin’ immediately leapt out at us, both for its themes and its brilliantly oblique approach. It deals with the horrors of the Shoah not directly but through its effect on the next generation.”
He points out that today we are two or three generations beyond Rudi and Sarah but anti-Semitism is still with us. He says for inspiration they turn to a quote from James Baldwin who wrote, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
He adds a sense of contemporary urgency to the issue stating, “With legislation currently being enacted all over the U.S. attempting to suppress the truth of our own history of oppression, it feels really important to be reminded of what happens when we refuse to face and deal with the past.”
Either alone or together the plays deal with a horror that should never be forgotten, but they offer insights to ourselves that might help it from ever happening again.
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
