{"id":8908,"date":"2013-11-15T11:29:21","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T19:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=8908"},"modified":"2013-11-16T00:28:40","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T08:28:40","slug":"holocaust-play-is-inspirational-haunting-and-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/holocaust-play-is-inspirational-haunting-and-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"Holocaust play is inspirational, haunting \u2014 and musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

In \u201c\u201cThe Pianist of Willesden Lane,\u201d Mona Golabek plays under a projected image of her parents, Lisa and Michel Golabek. Photo courtesy of mellopix.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Woody’s [rating:4.5]\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Watching dramas about the Holocaust has been low on my priority list for a long time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because I spent 23 years editing a Jewish newspaper in San Francisco and, as a byproduct, had almost daily contact with survivors, children of survivors and grandchildren with survivors.<\/p>\n

Some of their stories were indelibly courageous.<\/p>\n

Almost all were incredibly sad.<\/p>\n

And tough to hear.<\/p>\n

So I went to opening night of Berkeley Rep\u2019s \u201cThe Pianist of Willesden Lane\u201d with more than a little resistance, going mainly because my wife, a professional keyboard player herself, really craved to see it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad she convinced me.Although it\u2019s imperfect, the one-woman play is a truly important piece of theater, something I\u2019d recommend to Jews and non-Jews, be they fans of classical music or not.<\/p>\n

And I not-so-secretly wish every college and high school student could see it.<\/p>\n

What happens onstage is direct enough.<\/p>\n

Mona Golabek, a 54-year-old piano virtuoso, relates the true story of her prodigy mother\u2019s escape to England via the Kindertransport, an often forgotten mission that rescued 10,000 unaccompanied European children from Nazi violence and oppression.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tale of Lisa Jura\u2019s escape to a London hostel.<\/p>\n

And her survival despite the Blitz.<\/p>\n

And her optimism.<\/p>\n

Behind the Steinway that Golabek plays with grace and power are four massive gilt frames into which are projected impressionistic stills and all-too-real newsreel films.<\/p>\n

Included are black-and-white scenes of Holocaust victims (thankfully we\u2019re spared shots of emaciated bodies being tossed into mass graves) and the dancing flames of Krystallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass in November 1938 when Nazis smashed Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues in Germany and parts of Austria.They\u2019re disquieting, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Golabek, in dark red hair (she\u2019s usually blonde) and nondescript black sweater and skirt, <\/strong>reconfigures her mother as a promising teenage\u00a0pianist who escapes after her father wins a sole Kindertransport ticket in a card game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a painful scene reflective of the film \u201cSophie\u2019s Choice\u201d because her parents can save only one of three sisters.<\/p>\n

She accompanies her verbal journey with pianistic snippets of Beethoven\u2019s \u201cMoonlight Sonata,\u201d Debusssy\u2019s \u201cClair de Lune,\u201d Chopin\u2019s \u201cNocturne in B-Flat Major, opus 9,\u201d a few passages from Bach and Rachmaninoff, and even a ditty by Gershwin.But her best work comes on Grieg\u2019s only concerto. At different times, she dips into each of the three movements, ending the show triumphantly with the third.<\/p>\n

When Golabek talks early-on about the great composers, she does so in her mom\u2019s youthful voice: \u201cI can hear their music in the stones of these streets and the marble of these buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play\u2019s dialogue is sometimes poetic, often melodramatic, now and then banal \u2014 as when describing someone with \u201cthe softest soul in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hershey Felder, who masterfully performed \u201cGeorge Gershwin Alone\u201d at the Rep this summer, directed the play after adapting it from \u201cThe Children of Willesden Lane,\u201d a book by Golabek and Lee Cohen, and, in the process, seamlessly blended story and music.<\/p>\n

He, along with Trevor Hay, also was responsible for the sparse but powerful scenic design for the 90-minute, intermission-less show. Andrew Wilder and Greg Sowizdrzal were behind the effective projections. And Erik Carstensen was spot-on regarding the sound design, which ranges from chirping birds to bombing raids.<\/p>\n

Golabek, unfortunately, is not a polished actor.<\/p>\n

Her impersonations of minor characters don\u2019t ring\u00a0with authenticity, and her body movements are typically a bit severe. One sequence in which she tries to emulate some folks she\u2019s encountered is particularly awkward.<\/p>\n

Still, the poignant, emotional and haunting storyline overcomes any defects.<\/p>\n

There have been tons of stories about musicians and the Nazis, including \u201cThe Pianist,\u201d an extraordinary film. But this one tends to be better than most.<\/p>\n

It made me cry.And bemoan the fact that Holocaust deniers still exist.<\/p>\n

It also convinced me Golabek has skillfully underscored a meaningful Jewish mantra, \u201cNever forget!\u201d<\/p>\n

In an even broader sense, though, the play is a love story \u2014 Mona Golabek\u2019s heartfelt tribute to her mother, to hope, and to music.<\/p>\n

Clearly, it\u2019s stirring. And inspirational.\u201cThe Pianist of Willesden Lane\u201d plays at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2018s Thrust Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley, through Jan. 5. Night performances, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Sundays, 7 p.m. Matinees, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. Tickets: $14.50 to $89, subject to change, (510) 647-2949 or www.berkeleyrep.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woody’s [rating:4.5]\u00a0 Watching dramas about the Holocaust has been low on my priority list for a long time. That\u2019s because I spent 23 years editing a Jewish newspaper in San…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"