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Friday, Oct 10, 2008
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Odd Duck presents Westerbork Serenade: A song about loss |
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| Odd Duck presents Westerbork Serenade: A song about loss | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer THE WESTERBORK SERENADE WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY DAVID NATALE DIRECTED BY GIN HAMMOND SUNDAYS AND MONDAYS THROUGH JANUARY 28 ODD DUCK THEATER Westerbork was a Dutch refugee camp during most of World War II, until the Germans took over and made it a transport camp, where they brought Jews together to transport by train to the concentration camps where virtually all of them would die. This is a challenging topic to write and perform about. David Natale brings us into the world of Jewish cabaret entertainers who were collected, along with "regular" Jews of all backgrounds, and ended up at Westerbork. Entertainers were in a most precarious position, since they had talents that brought people's spirits up, but their efforts could be considered part of the German effort to keep the prisoners calm and docile. Natale's play introduces a group of famous entertainers who were able to keep themselves from being transported by fashioning a revue to entertain prisoners and Germans alike. Natale, as the sole performer, becomes at least 18 different people, some of them Jews, some of them Germans, some of them women, some men and some children. He is able to delineate each with just a gesture or two and some vocal changes, which is one of the special talents of solo performers. So, there's the actor/director, the musician, the chanteuse, the comic duo, knowing that their lives depend on their art. They craft music specially mentioning camp life and have to keep changing the show so the Germans don't get bored with them. The title is taken from a song the comic duo composes for the camp. Through song and dance, Natale tells the story of some of the real performers who were imprisoned, while giving the flavor and feeling of the oppressive, ever-present specter of death. So, while it's an affecting subject, it does not become maudlin or desperately bleak. He even manages to get a few jokes in there. The stage is bare, and Odd Duck Studio is really a black box. The walls are black and there is no other set besides a bare wooden riser and Natale in a representative prison jumpsuit. Nice use of varied lighting helps tell apart times when it's part of the revue performance and times when people are talking to each other. Some music is pre-recorded for him to sing along with. Natale is an engaging man with a nice, if a bit quavery, singing voice. His characters, therefore, are also engaging. While most of the play is in English, he does speak some German and Yiddish. If you understand those languages, there is a bit more pathos to experience through specific music, such as a commonly known Yiddish lullaby and a snatch of Israel's national anthem. But overall, the thrust of the action is easy to keep track of. The play is a longish one-act. Natale has performed a few different versions of this work in other cities, beginning when he was a student at the Old Globe. It still feels like a work-in-progress, and is a bit raw around the edges. This is not material that is easily translated into performance. What is particularly nice about this performance is that he doesn't preach about the subject, he demonstrates in small touches the paradoxes that jar the audience. So, while a cabaret performer has given pleasure to prisoners, the same performer also helps load the transport train with those same prisoners. And there is regret. But still, the show goes on and his life is preserved. A story is told about a premature baby that was taken from its mother, placed in an incubator by the commandant of the camp, and saved from death. The commandant is shown to be a humanitarian. So, what happened to the infant? When the infant was healthy enough, it was put on a transport, so it could rejoin its mother. Another small moment, another jar to consciousness. Is it just a play about WWII? Can we look at those horrors and learn about ourselves? That will be up to you. It's likely that the entertainers of Westerbork Camp will burrow into your head and ask questions like, "Should we have saved ourselves, or should we have gone with the others? Were our lives more important? Wasn't it important to save whoever we could, however we could? Was our effort wasted because we died, anyway?" For more information, go to www.brownpapertickets.com or call 800-838-3006. Comments on reviews go to sgncritic@gmail.com. |
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