Word: andri
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Fortunately half of the drama's stress is on the individual--the Jew, Andri--and here the production shines. Andri thinks he's a Jew, and it flatters the people's image of themselves to tolerate him when he's young. He tries to emulate them. But when their obsession changes guise and the persecution begins, Andri can't decide which identity to embrace--to be like the others or be different from them. He's even taught to act like a "Jew," and he can't find his freedom either...
This conflict moves the play, particularly when every joint of Guckenheimer's structure is riveted by the performance of Douglas Hughes. When Hughes's fiery, adolescent Andri is forced into the dilemma of conformity or rebellion, the strain grinds him into a slow, crumpling burn; rubbing palms on trousers as if to ease the searing; stretching fingers behind his back to find air he's not sure he's entitled to. A tight stickfigure of nervousness, he moves like he's in an invisible bag. So his courage lashes out like electricity, for he can never breathe enough to show...
...very difficult, sophisticated play--a stripped and probably lost-in-translation parable--ambition is commendable. The one-dimensional portrayal of the townspeople may only accentuate a repetitiveness built into the play itself. Perhaps it is only a small fault that the society that Andri can't pin down as either antagonistic or welcoming seems to know the answer too soon...