REVIEW: Here There Are Blueberries (Shakespeare Theatre Company)
Preview: In 2007, an unnamed former US intelligence officer donated an album of photos to DC’s very own U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The photos therein were purported to be from within Auschwitz, a place so evil that not even the Germans — who, we are reminded at the top of this play, love to take pictures as a hobby — would dare document the atrocities (most pictures of what we think of the concentration camp atrocities today are actually of other camps, not Auschwitz specifically, we are reminded). But things quickly unravel as Holocaust researcher Rebecca Erbelding notices one Josef Mengele, the “Angel of Death” and doctor personally responsible for thousands of murders, being depicted at the camp. There’s suddenly evidence of he and many other officers at Auschwitz that had never been discovered. But whose album was this? What can it tell us? How come the photos don’t depict any prisoners? That sparks the mystery behind Here There Are Blueberries, the gripping docu-play making its East Coast premiere this week at STC’s Harman Hall.
Acting: While this is an ensemble show, it is anchored by the portrayal of Erbelding (Elizabeth Stahlmann), whose own pursuit of the album’s history creates the basis of the piece. Her, like each other character, narrates directly to the audience. It being a documentary play lends itself to feeling like more of a museum showcase than a proper theatre production, but the drama in the delivery is good enough to keep you engaged and walloped with grief as more details are unearthed. In this cast of eight, each plays multiple characters, but most feel useless. It felt almost like the script was acting, not the people, and each time they spoke they were merely possessed by the events themselves to recite an essay. Though. beyond Stahlmann, Erika Rose and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh deliver poignant performances from both the perspective of the museum and the public, spearheading the path that brings the audience through the fog of mystery surrounding the photos. 6/10
Production: Derek McLane’s orderly set is functional, yet visually dull; but it is elevated by the creative projection work of David Bengali. The staging mostly takes place in a museum research office, with grids of desks and papers, photos, and other documents strewn about. It’s useful for the more lecture-y parts of the play, such as when Erbelding uses a live projector to analyze photographs. Things do start to get interesting when the details start to get unearthed, and the projections begin to highlight important figures and unseen documents. It starts to feel like an interactive museum experience, like one you’d find at the actual museum or somewhere like Planet Word. Words start to get projected across the wall, changing with script intensity. Videos of the real-life Hocker are played, reminding us of the recency of his trial. Character changes from past to present, and in certain interrogations are lighted colorfully by David Lander and draw visual interest to the scene. It’s not much, but it supports the script well enough. 6/10
Book: At the talkback I attended for this, moderator Ruthie Fierberg of Broadway News likened Blueberries to a mystery thriller, and I’d have to agree. Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s book takes the experience of Erbelding’s team at the USHMM and spins it to engage us in the mystery. At each turn we’re left hints, crumbs of Nazi history via historical figures and documentation that could unlock more secrets of the album. Occasionally, I did feel like some of these conclusions were handed to the audience before given the chance over the runtime to put them together, but they were satisfying nonetheless. (The collective sigh when it was revealed that Hocker signed off on a Zyklon-B shipment, years after escaping the genocide charge by claiming he didn’t, was so dense). Aiding Erbelding’s investigation was Tilman Taube (Ebrahimzadeh), who identified his grandfather in one of the pictures and then led a campaign within Germany to seek those with Nazi relatives who ordinarily would have hid this history at all costs. I particularly appreciated this inclusion as it really condenses the timeline of this event. The museum isn’t researching ancient history; it’s researching something that two extant generations of people actively experienced, and allows people to reflect how the casual attitudes of literal, actual Nazis back then eerily reflect the casual attitudes of people today in the face of racism and antisemitism. Overall, Kaufman and Gronich have done a stellar job of flipping the mirror right back at us. 8/10
VisDev: I really like the the intrigue the program cover draws. It’s one of the pictures from the album depicting Hocker with the Heifereinen, the women helpers, eating titular blueberries at the retreat cabin within the Auschwitz complex. It’s old and restored, but implies a sort of darkness that you can’t quite put your finger on. There’s no Nazi insignia, nothing that would clue you in to the atrocities occurring by their hand probably not a mile from the photo’s location. But it’s insidious nonetheless, made even more sinister when the context is revealed to the viewer by the end of the show. Complimenting this idea of documentation by photo, the opening staging is plain black curtain with the old Leica logo projected, the only stage object being a highlighted pedestal with an older camera on it. The house plays early-20th century German folk music as well, making a lighthearted theme that alludes to how nonchalant the photos were. I think audiences are well-prepared, even if they are going in blind. Worst case, they get a very well done surprise about the nature of the show, and best case, they get what they expected in a very engaging way. 8/10
