Backstage Review
"I Want the Whole World to See That I Can Cry!" which was staged at the Greenwich Street Theatre, is a perfect example of "less is more." In this small makeshift theatre, and with the simplest of props and staging, a powerful Holocaust memory piece comes alive.
It is the true story of one Ester Herschberg (nee Erna Holtzberg), tracing her life from her sheltered girlhood in Krakow, Poland through the Nazi labor and concentration camps, the cattle-car rides, and the death marches to her ultimate liberation. Writer-producer Miri Ben-Shalom has based the piece on Herschberg's journals, shaping it into a work of art and heartbreak.
Not that we haven't seen Holocaust dramas and read numerous testimonials, but this one is special. With Ben-Shalom's economy of language and graphic word images, the now-familiar story becomes fresh. And, indeed, it is a story that needs to be reiterated to new generations. The author's matter-of-fact style, as if relating a day at the beach and not a teenager's life at Auschwitz, underscores the horrors.
The piece is further enhanced by the two brilliant actresses who interpret the role -- Lucille Patton as the older Ester recalling the past, and Kathy Searle as the young Erna undergoing the experience. Patton's ironic, composed style contrasts sharply with Searle's moving portrayal of wide-eyed innocence hardened to bitterness. Together they are a remarkable team, balancing each other, and their timing under Moni Yakim's direction is impeccable. Kurt Bauccio rounds out the cast as the numerous Nazi officers who cross Erna's path. Though he tends to rely too much on shouting, his calmer, subtler moments are indeed chilling.
In all, "I Want the Whole World to See That I Can Cry!" is a piece that deserves to go on to a long life, with frequent appearances around the world.
-- Irene Backalenick