Never Forget

A Shayna Maidel – Timeline Theatre

 

Barbara Lebow’s wrenching and uplifting drama about two sisters, reunited after years of separation, tells just one of the many stories inspired by the traumatic aftermath created by the Holocaust. The War is over and it’s 1946 New York. In a modest Brooklyn apartment (beautifully designed, with so much attention to detail, by Collette Pollard), Americanized Polish immigrant Rose Weiss is awakened in the middle of the night by a loud, persistent banging at her door.

 Rose’s formidable father, Mordechai Weiss, has arrived with some unexpected news. He ferociously delivers the heart-stopping report that her older sister, Lusia, has not only survived the horrors of the concentration camp, but will soon be arriving in America. Papa commands that Rose must now keep Kosher and take in the sister she barely remembers. While Rose quietly explains that there’s barely enough room in her apartment for one person, let alone two, Papa admonishes and shames her for being selfish. He decrees that Rose will give up her bed to Lusia and sleep on the sofa, from now on.

This almost forgotten and deeply moving play from the late 1980’s is another potent reminder to all of us that we must never forget the horror of Hitler’s atrocities. While the drama occurs in the aftermath of WWII, just when the full revulsion of the dictator’s monstrous villainy was finally being comprehended and felt by public consciousness, there are a number of scenes that flash back to the days before and during the Shoah. Lusia fondly remembers her dear mother (played with warmth and loving devotion by Carin Schapiro Silkaitis), her best friend Hanna (a passionately honest and devoted Sarah Wisterman), and her adoring young husband, Duvid Pechenik, portrayed with sincere ardor and enthusiasm by Alex Stein. The juxtaposition of these prewar and postwar scenes enhance and complement each other, combining in a finely crafted and emotionally-charged production.

But the story truly springs from the page with breath and tears, thanks to the talents of three masterful and accomplished actors. Charles Stransky is powerful and austere as Mordechai Weiss. Theatergoers will find his bellowing character almost intolerable in his relentless, stern and uncompromising behavior toward his daughters. But, by the end of the play, in a heartbreaking moment of forgiveness and healing, audiences will come to understand this complex man.

 Emily Berman is absolutely radiant as Lusia, the weary and war-torn older sister who’s experienced and survived so much cruelty and evil. She arrives in Brooklyn, bundled up in the hand-me-down clothing that the Red Cross has given her, reluctant to put down the porcelain-head doll that’s her only reminder of a past life. In her broken, halting English Lusia tries to convey her bewilderment of suddenly being thrust into another strange environment, after having endured the hell of the Holocaust.

 As Rose, Lusia’s younger, more innocent sister, the brilliant Bri Sudia is simply magnificent. She makes the audience feel her character’s helplessness at trying to assist and support her sister, a virtual stranger. Rose does everything she can to help Lusia in coping with her newfound freedom. The conflicting feelings Rose experiences in having her privacy interrupted and suddenly having to empathize with and love a sister she never knew is overpowering. Near the end of the play, as we watch tears falling silently from Ms. Sudia’s eyes, we fully understand what she’s feeling. In that moment, an entire theatre of strangers find themselves united by one, common emotion. 

This play, an auspicious opening of TimeLine’s 22nd season, is guided by Vanessa Stalling, a director known for her poignant, Jeff Award-winning productions all over Chicago. It speaks well of this theatre company that every cast member, as well as the director, are making their TimeLine debuts. Ms. Stalling has infused her presentation with life, authentic humanity and unpretentious sensitivity. It’s impossible not to become engaged in this brilliant production without finding empathy with every character. That’s the gift that Ms. Stalling brings to theatergoers: she brings Barbara Lebow’s impressive, inspirational play to Chicago, and makes it feel timely and brand new once again.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas  

 

Presented August 22-November 4 by TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available by calling the box office at 773-281-8463, x6, or by visiting www.timelinetheatre.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.