The essence of the story is how two young men from different sects of Judaism meet, become friends, endure the harsh reality of the intersection between culture and friendship under fathers who might seem vastly different, but who in the end are cut from the same cloth. It is a powerful, deeply presented and culturally unapologetic presentation of the glory and the warts of both traditions.
"Avloo ve' Avloo": what I could see from my seat of the captioning for the deaf. It means "This is the same as that". Two ideas which can be held in a tense equilibrium as both being good in the eyes of God. It is the first line spoken by Reuven Malter, the son of the secular (yet, observant) Jewish family. Just on its own, apart from this little play as amazing as it was; this idea echoed against the hatred and death of today like an impossible dream...
I do not know what the actors were actually thinking. I can tell you for me, this was the highlight so far of my DMV theatre season. Zach Brewster-Geisz as David Malter the Zionist father of Reuven was wonderful in his portrayal of a man whose health is frail, but whose heart is passionate. Sasha Olinick as Reb Saunders gave humanity to a man who sacrificed his relationship with his beloved son in order to just hope to teach him how to be a better man... Avloo ve' avloo!
Special kudos go to Stephen Russell Murray who, as the understudy, was called into service for this performance. Whenever an understudy enters the milieu of an ensemble you can see the lack of cohesion that familiarity inevitably creates. Well, usually, you can. Stephen's portrayal of the Hasidim heir apparent to a dynasty of immigrants led by his father--a role he does not want to have--was so vulnerable, so innocently desperate. It left me just wanting to embrace him in his struggle and fear. That is acting.
But the real star of this production was Ethan Miller. Damn! I first saw Ethan play Joshua Muller, the child son in "Watch on the Rhine" at Arena Stage back in March of 2017 where the headliner was the actor Marsha Mason. It was fine. I wasn't overly impressed with Mason's performance, and my attention to it distracted from others. But the role of a child in this family whose presence was of little more significance to the story than the couch upon which he sat? Well, kids come, and kids go.
Apparently, NOT this kid. In the interim 6 years, little Ethan has gone off and earned himself a BFA in acting from the University of Minnesota and been in association with the prestigious regional Guthrie Theater up there. Today, he was the absolute real deal. Like the star, Baby. From his first pronouncement of "Avloo ve' avloo" to the last--which ended the play--he was nothing short of amazing. His delivery of the lines never wavered into the realm of recitation. Every word felt fresh, real, dynamic, dare I say, natural? At one point a prop fell and every ounce of his reaction was just as natural and consistent with the character that he was embodying. If he's not nominated for a Helen Hayes award, then I would honestly question the integrity of that process.
The set was beautiful. The sound design seamless. The lighting design? I have cliff notes...and who's to say if it was poor design or poor execution, but when you are made aware of it in a way that detracts from the experience even just once--it's a failure in my book.
Of all of the shows I've seen this season, this one was the best so far.
Ethan Miller as Reuven Malter
Images from a baseball game that was the beginning of Reuven and Daniel's friendship.
Zach Brewster-Geisz as Reuven's father David Malter
Sasha Olnick as Reb Saunders, Daniel's father.
Reuven coming to terms with his life in a moment of darkness in his soul.
Stephen Murray who performed the role of Daniel Saunders as the understudy in the performance I attended.
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