“A Bright Room Called Day”

*** There are times that deciding on how many stars to give a production, I step away for a few minutes to think about the purpose of the rating. I have always felt that the total package is what I am defining, but there are times that I see the value of the story as one rating while the production itself deserves yet another. Tonight, was one of those nights. I attended blank theatre’s “A Bright Room Called Day” at The Greenhouse Theater Center. This play, written by Tony Kushner ( who brought us “Angels In America) is a story that involves a young Jewish girl,  Zillah ( a fierce portrayal by Lilah Weisman) Katz, who is on a journey to find her roots in Berlin.

The play, directed by  Danny Kapinos on a set by Marcus Klein, has a solid cast of players. but as much as I enjoyed their performances, I found myself a little confused over some of the details of the story. Understand that the period is before Hitler takes over in the early days. It appears that the players in Berlin are all Comrades from other than Germany and while one would think they were Jewish, we do not know that at all. In fact, there is even a moment when they do the “cross” on their chests, which is where the confusion lies.

Agnes ( deftly handled by Katherine Schwartz) is our main character with the action taking place in her flat in Berlin. While we never hear the words ( or at least I didn’t because in the little theater the actors tended to speak in a stage whisper and the second row was not close enough for some dialogue) one would have to assume that Agnes was the grandmother, or perhaps even great grandmother to Zillah.

The use of projections  (Alex J. Gendal) to let us know the year and events was a great aid to letting us know what was taking place. I wish they had also used the projections for translating the German that was spoken during Zillah’s scenes with Roland (Grayson Kennedy). It would have added something to staying in the story. We do go from Revolution to the Third Reich, and see the stories of all the characters including that of an old woman, who is someone that just appears, but brings the story to an end as she and Agnes are brought to a camp.

This is definitely an “Ensemble” piece, where each actor relies on the others in the cast to keep the balance in storytelling. Hats off to Raul Alonso, Grant Carriker, Brandy Miller, Shannon Bachelder, Hadar Zusman, Alex Levy, Ann James, and Ben Veatch, who along with Ms Schwartz, Mr. Kennedy and Ms Weisman make up the strong ensemble that brings this deep story to life.

The run time is 2 hours and 40 minutes with one intermission. I do suggest bringing a cushion as in the “studio” the seats are comparable to folding card chairs. Comfort will help in watching this tense story that deals with a subject that we still find scary.

“A Bright Room Called Day” will continue thru January 5th with performances as follows: