Posted: 9/14/24 at 11:21pm
I was a little surprised to see that there wasn't a thread about this show already (considering the BAM production was apparently sold out), as I think it's an interesting one to talk about.
I saw this on Thursday and didn't really remember what it was about when I walked in (other than having a vague recollection that it had to do with the Holocaust), so it took me a while to realize it was set in Poland (and I also hadn't really had much prior knowledge of the conflicts Poland had had with Russia at the time). I think the story itself is really quite interesting (if harrowing), and especially the close study of the motivations and choices of different characters throughout their lifetimes can be quite fascinating, especially the character played by Alexandra Silber (though all the actors are quite fantastic).
It did take me a little while to settle into the show since it starts out seeming like it's a reading (for what purpose I didn't really understand), but I thought the use of the chalkboards and other props were quite inventive and fun (even if they became a bit twee later on). The character introductions go by pretty quickly and I felt like I was always a half step behind at first, and they really speed through quite a bit of the plot in the first hour so sometimes I didn't quite understand a motivation or even what had just happened, but it did eventually end up making sense.
But I thought what the play did well was really demonstrate the different viewpoints of the 10 different characters. After the first hour or so where I was struggling to piece everything together, I thought the play did a good job of balancing the different storylines of the characters (even as some move away from the town where most of the action is set), and they really did all feel like real humans. There are clear villains in the show but even those characters are treated with a level of empathy that allows you to understand how their world views may lead them to do what they do (though there were some moments I think that could've been expanded on).
There are a lot of horrifying events that happen in the play, but I was pretty glad that I ended up watching it (despite the almost 3 hour run time) and I'm curious to hear from others that might've seen it! (The same cast and director is doing Merchant of Venice later on in the year and I'll admit I didn't really have any interest in that before, but now I think I'll give it a go.)
