Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's Dear Esther at The Herberger Theatre Stage West
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 2/19/00
(out of )Even those who were touched by the Holocaust (however indirectly) sometimes need to be reminded. My mother's mother's family, Italian Jews, had family members who were shipped north from Italy, never to be seen again. Despite this knowledge, I must admit that my first (regrettable) reaction to reviewing Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's Southwest premiere of Richard Rashke's powerful script, Dear Esther, was trepidation at seeing "yet another Holocaust play." I now see the massive error of my attitude. Just as going to "yet another play about slavery" from Black Theatre Troupe on Friday was a welcomed learning experience, so to was the emotionally riveting play about a survivor of Poland's infamous Sobibor death camp and her subsequent fifty year internal struggle a perfect reminder that there can never be too many plays about the horrors of slavery and the Holocaust. After all, those who survived to carry the legacy of the over six million innocents slaughtered do not have the luxury of my initial wrong-headed attitude.
Mr. Rashke's presentation is a memory play from a point-of-view rarely considered, looking at the Holocaust through the eyes of a woman who did more than survive, but actually fought back. Esther was a part of the uprising at Sobibor that saw the oppressed revolt against their Nazi and Ukrainian oppressors. Here, fifty years later, she recounts this memory to young teenagers in America, while being haunted by her younger self, who goads her into truth and clarity, while looking to make sense of senseless acts of macrocosmic, and touchingly microcosmic proportion. Central to this recounting is a search for the reasoning behind her mother's odd choice of death in the face of surviving. Peppered throughout the play are the letters that Esther has received from the children, showing that her tale has often hit its mark.
Director Graham Whitehead has done an excellent job of giving this memory play the double-edged view of clarity and dream-like quality. Geof Eroe's set is a schizoid offering of a realistic podium, and a myriad of scrims and black and white photos that loom over Esther's tale. Mr. Whitehead has also paced the show to balance dream and horrifying reality. While jarring, he has also added one colorblind casting element which ultimately keeps this dream-state intact, as black actor Bruce Nelson portrays characters as varied as a Rabbi and a terrifying SS officer.
Actresses Janet Arnold and Jeanine Pacheco portray older and younger versions of Esther wonderfully. Ms. Arnold, believably aged to 68 years old, is able to transition between her lucid and emotionally embattled moments nearly seamlessly. Ms. Pacheco, while sometimes dangerously skating the line between perky and determination, nearly always captures the strength of her character's will to live and musters the powerful emotions of anger and frustration during key moments. Gwen Loeb and Mr. Nelson do an excellent job of transitioning believably between their myriad of characters. Ms. Loeb appears throughout as Esther's mother, and presents this iconic figure without swaying toward either mushy or mystical. Mr. Nelson offers inspirational speeches as a rabbi in one scene, then horrifying-yet-understated scowls as a Nazi the next.
Supporting the play are the four youngsters, Donnie Benjamin, Max Hazell, Kasandra Krause, and Tiana Torrilhon, who serve triple duty as American teens, Holocaust victims and Polish tormentors in a believable way.
Besides Mr. Eroe's marvelous set, Michael J. Eddy's lighting is equally fluid and mood-setting, as is Allen Lea's sound design and filmic-though-unobtrusive original score. Late replacement Maureen Smith's costume designs are solid.
My significant other, a gifted playwright, was raised Jewish, as I was not, and tends to be very critical of Holocaust presentations. Shauna was not as moved by this work as I, believing that something new must come from every additional work, while never allowing for potential misinterpretation or belittling. Ms. Rabinowitz felt that little new ground was tread here, and was not as impressed with this battle of younger and older selves. If nothing else, though, it resulted in an interesting conversation until moments before the writing of this review, and that should serve as a compliment to both author Rashke and actress/producer Arnold, knowing that their offering can be seen so differently, and cause such discussion accordingly.
Production Details:
Dear Esther by Richard Rashke
Arizona Jewish Theatre
Company
The Herberger Theatre Center Stage West, Phoenix
(602) 252-8497
February 19th - March 5th, 2000