(Photos Stephanie Gamba, Valerie Terranova)
“No one in my family was born of German blood, we are Jews.” So replies the arrested Hannah Arendt to her German interrogator in playwright Jenny Lyn Bader’s absorbing historical drama, Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library.
In 1933, 26-year-old German-born Arendt and her
mother were arrested on a Berlin street and spent eight
days in separate captivity. Arendt had a degree in
philosophy and was conducting research at the Prussian
State Library; she was denounced by a librarian for
copying antisemitic materials for foreign distribution,
which was illegal under martial law, this was punishable
by a long prison term or death.
Upon release, Arendt fled Germany, and after a long road of exile
arrived in New York City in 1941; she would become one of the 20th
century’s most notable public intellectuals. “The banality
of evil” was her epic, profound and enduring quote
regarding the Nazis when reporting on Adolf Eichmann’s
war crimes trial for The New Yorker. She died in 1975 at
the age of 69.
Through her accomplished command of dramatic writing,
Ms. Bader turns this factual incident into a stimulating
and suspenseful 90-minute play in the classic genre of
the accuser versus the accused while in a jail cell. The
well-crafted dialogue crisply imparts Arendt’s biographical
details (Stern was her estranged husband’s surname),
the German politcal situation and the plight of the Jews.
Crucially, Bader creates two full-fledged loquacious
characters; we get an authentic philosophizing youthful
Arendt, and a true believer young Nazi who is
nonetheless swayed by facts and is sympathetic to
Arendt; he gives the chain-smoking Arendt cigarettes.
Here, Bader depicts the benignity of evil.
The sleek, wide-eyed and animated Ella Dershowitz
employs a plummy, slightly accented authoritative vocal
tone for her rich characterization of Arendt. Ms.
Dershowitz gives those familiar with Arendt an ideal
histrionic portrait of her. Lean, boyish and soulful Brett
Temple’s by the book German police inspector is the
perfect foil for Dershowitz; their rapport is palpable
during their eloquent interactions. Clad in a uniform, Mr.
Temple’s swaggering performance dazzles as he sincerely
tosses off Nazi talking points conjoined with logic in his
expressive tenor voice. Bespectacled, bearded and
personable Drew Hirshfield wonderfully pops up as a wily
Zionist lawyer to aid Arendt, and to provide outside world
exposition.
Director Ari Laura Kreith’s physical staging artfully relies
on swiftness and realism, as the actors are perpetually
moved around the set for visual variance. Scenic designer
Lauren Helpern’s airy off-white jail cell is set with a table
and chairs; high rectangular windows with shadowy
prison bars queasily register the gravity of Arendt’s
situation. Cameron Filepas’ lighting design is of steady
muted brightness with periodic dim, near blackouts
connoting days going by. Nearby inmates’ offstage
harrowing screams are the prime feature of Megan
Culley’s bracing sound design. Arendt’s lustrous black
ensemble, the accurate German military uniform, and the
lawyer’s high-class suit are handiworks of Deborah
Caney’s ace costume design.
Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library
dramatizes a pivotal event in Hannah Arendt’s life with
engaging theatricality.
Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library (through
November 10, 2024)
Luna Stage
59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.lunastage.org
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission
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