CT Review: "A Shayna Maidel" at Playhouse on Park
Photo: Meredith Longo
Tim Leininger, Contributing Critic - Connecticcut
Beauty is not something we can always see in ourselves and sometimes when having seen the worst of humanity, beauty is a hard thing to embrace anywhere when your life has been filled with horrors for years.
Such is the case for Lusia Pechenik (Katharina Schmidt) in Barbara Lebow’s “A Shayna Maidel,” directed by Dawn Loveland Navarro at Playhouse on Park, running through Nov. 17.
Meaning “a pretty girl,” “A Shayna Maidel” is a beautiful story of family, tragedy, and finding peace in the worst of the history of mankind.
Lusia grew up in Poland and was captured by the Nazis being located in the Jewish ghetto before being transferred to a concentration camp. A year after the war has ended and surviving the camp she is flown to New York City where she reunites with her sister Rose Weiss (Laura Sudduth), who was only four when she and their father Mordechai Weiss (Mitch Greenberg) immigrated to the U.S., long before the Nazis took over. Unfortunately Lusia had scarlet fever at the time and wasn’t permitted to travel.
Lebow’s play has many textures and layers to it. It is part fish-out-of-water drama and part ghost story as Lusia is haunted by the ghosts of her past while she attempts to acclimate herself to her new environment.
What’s nice about the play is that it doesn’t dwell too much on self-righteous indignation. There is no posturing or sanctimonious proselytizing between the two sisters about how Rose had it so good in America while Lusia suffered the atrocities of the Nazis. Lebow’s text is sensitive enough that she doesn’t have to resort to such banal stereotypical storytelling.
Instead, Lebow focuses on the journey Lusia makes in addressing her grief, nightmares, and memories as she attempts to find some semblance of a new life.
Rose and Mordechai are well aware of what happened in Europe by this time and though Rose initially is curious about what it was like; she can tell that Lusia is either unable or unwilling to talk about it. That is more than enough to get the point across.
The power and gravity of “A Shayna Maidel” is presented through Schmidt’s dynamite performance. Lebow’s script does not give Schmidt a lot of wiggle room emotionally. She is required to turn on a dime, changing from being bereft and grieved in one moment over her dead mother (Krista Lucas) and her missing husband Duvid Pechenik (Alex Rafala) to reliving a memory in a state of elation.
The rest of the cast does a solid job. I particularly enjoyed Greenberg’s stoic nature as Mordechai as he leans heavily on his faith in order to process his own grief.
Julia Tolchin is also a pleasure as Lusia’s friend from Poland who she has memories of.
David Lewis’ stage design of Rose’s apartment is nicely layered with distinct and defined divisions of the three major rooms that make up the play.
A little bit of the blocking does end up obscuring some of the interaction, particularly one scene between Rose and Lusia where both of them are on the ground in a location that obscures them from most of the audience. Some of that is probably due to the restrictions the theater has in its space, but having the scene closer to center stage or in the bedroom where it was elevated would have made it more visible.
“A Shayna Maidel” is a remarkably smart and sensitive play, with beautiful performances and a highlight of the season.
A Shayna Maidel
Theater: Playhouse on Park
Location: 244 Park Road, West Hartford
Production: Written by Barbara Lebow; Directed by Dawn Loveland Navarro; Scenic Design by David Lewis; Lighting Design by Marcus Abbott; Sound Design by Kirk Ruby; Costume Design by Lisa Steier; Stage Manager: Mollie Cook; Prop Artisan and Set Dresser: Eileen O’Connor
Show times: Evening: Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 8 p.m. Matinee: Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday 2 p.m.
Tickets: $27.50 to $40. Available online at www.playhouseonpark.org, by phone at 860-523-5900 ext. 10, or at the box office