Word: halder
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...embrace and support the Nazi regime of Hitler. Good is a study of the gradual acquiescence of a nation toward the hatred and genocide that took place in '30s Germany, culminating in the Holocaust. It explores this theme on a personal, individual level--through the character of John Halder (Diego Arciniegas), a humanities professor and a fundamentally good man who ultimately dons an S.S. uniform and heads off for his new position at the Auschwitz death camp. Halder's ascent (or descent) is recounted in a series of disconnected episodes that recall the pivotal moments in his life...
...Halder, in a smart performance by Arciniegas, a member of the theater department at Wellesley College, is a frustrated soul. His way of coping with stress is to hear imaginary band music, from cabaret numbers to classical symphonic excerpts. And he has much to be stressed about. His wife Helen (Joy Brooke Fairfield '03) confines herself to the home in neurotic fear. His mother (Cheryl Chan '03) is blind and suffers from an annoying senile dementia that drives Halder to publish his pro-euthanasia book during one of his depressed bouts. His best friend is a Jewish psychiatrist named Maurice...
...Halder is an appealing character because he reacts in much the same way that the audience would--at least initially. Upon first being sought out by the Nazis, Halder is skeptical. In Halder's mind, Hitler (Brendon DeMay) is a babbling idiot, who in some of the evening's most amusing moments, sings a Jewish wedding song and proclaims at an imaginary rally, "I don't know where I am. I don't know what I'm doing." Halder's wife urges him to join the party for the practical purpose of obtaining a more prestigious university position. He does...
...this is gradually what happens as Halder finds himself first trying to rationalize euthanasia as a compassionate act toward the sick and deformed, then the bonfire of the books, Krystal Nacht, and in what proves to be the play's most shocking (if somewhat farfetched) moment, Auschwitz. As Halder's rationalizations become increasingly strained and desperate, Hitler assumes a more seductive tone in Halder's mind, and his image is accompanied by popular, catchy drinking songs...
...Despite its frequent use of music, Good is not a musical. This use of music is simply one of the play's ingenious, innovative touches. The songs and symphonic pieces break up the monotony of Halder's long soliloquies, adding comic relief or exaggerating irony when necessary. As the play's events unfold, the music gradually becomes more serious to match the severity of Hitler's increasingly powerful position. Musical director John Baxindine '00 does an admirable job as band leader, and his three fellow musicians, prominently displayed at center stage, perform even the most intricate pieces with style...