Displaying items by tag: The Berlin Diaries

My companion was apprehensive about the press release’s statement that “… the two-person cast will play all characters and will even share certain characters.”  “How can that work?” she wondered. “How will we know which character is speaking?”

I told her, “Wait and see.”  I had no such doubts; I’ve seen several shows at Open Space Arts and been consistently impressed at how well the company overcomes its multiple challenges, not the least of which is its extremely small space, further circumscribed by the 6-inch diameter pipe running floor to ceiling in the center of the stage space. It requires a nimble and imaginative company to not simply overcome this hindrance, but actually incorporate it into the action.

Eliana Deckner-Glick as Andrea (et al) and Artem Kreimer as her grandfather Max (and others) flowed seamlessly through their multiple roles; at times even switching to Kreimer playing Andrea and Deckner-Glick as Max. But no matter how quickly and how completely they fluctuated, at no point was I ever in doubt as to ‘who’ was speaking.

How on earth did they do it?

First, of course, is via the actors’ skill. Their vocal repertories were only one aspect of their transformations: posture, gait, facial expression, even temperament were all faithfully conveyed as Deckner-Glick modified Andrea to a clerk, and Kreimer transitioned from Max to a librarian and … and and and! It was uncanny how realistic the conversions were, especially as the evolution was usually made in mere seconds. Brava/o!

But even the most sensational acting could not have passed muster without the masterful direction of Izadorius Tortuga. I was stunned to learn that THE BERLIN DIARIES was Tortuga’s Chicago directing debut! The four years at Carnegie Mellon earning his BFA were clearly very well spent. The blocking and staging alone was ingenious as, in collaboration with Stage Manager Sean Smyth, magic was made in that meagre space.

Scenic Designer Viscaya Wilson supported the show’s authenticity by creating a plausible and effective space that generated copious domains, from Andrea’s NYC apartment to the snowy streets of Berlin. I loved the family tree that covered one wall, linked to maps of various destinations in South America, Europe and Palestine, as well as New York City and, of course, Berlin. These features came alive with Gabe Seplow’s Lighting and Valerio Gardner’s Sound.

Andrea Stolowitz is an internationally produced playwright, known for her unflinching approach to difficult issues in service of deepening social understanding. Her work is often heartbreaking, and THE BERLIN DIARIES certainly falls into that category.  The play is autobiographical, triggered by Stolowitz reading the diary her great-grandfather kept while living as a Jew in Berlin during the rise of Hitler and the beginning of World War II. The entries were specifically intended for and addressed to his descendants, often beginning with phrases like “My beloveds ….” Excerpts read throughout the play artfully served to encompass and embrace the audience, drawing us into Andrea’s clan.

Andrea’s parents told her that all members of their family had escaped the Holocaust, but in the diary her family’s genealogy becomes more mysterious the deeper she digs, raising far more questions than it answers. Frustrated yet fascinated, Andrea recognizes that these unanswered questions may reveal a far more significant history than the kindly, comfortable accounts that have become family legend. Andrea travels to Berlin seeking clarification and is increasingly troubled as her research adds one name after another to the list of ancestors who were verschollen: lost, like a library book.

I really haven’t committed too many spoilers here; this is the bare outline of THE BERLIN DIARIES, and when you see the play – and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! You do – you’ll be as awestruck as I was for the grim experiences and searing disclosures Andrea is led to by her great-grandfather’s diaries.

THE BERLIN DIARIES plays at Open Space Arts through January 5

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!