REVIEW: You Will Not Play Wagner
Image: Photo: Megan Garcia
On November 9 to 10, 1938, Nazi and civilian Germans wreaked devastation on Jewish neighbourhoods, destroying synagogues, businesses and homes. Many Jews were killed; thousands were taken to camps; all were robbed of their possessions.
The opening scene of You Will Not Play Wagner, a new play by Victor Gordon, is a cacophonous immersion into Kristallnacht (Night of The Broken Glass) with sounds of panic and destruction accompanying a back wall abstract projection of newsprint, faces, debris and fire.
The action proper begins in Israel, in a hotel room, in around 2000, mere days before the final of a prestigious competition for classical conductors. Wealthy patron and holocaust survivor, Esther (Annie Byron) is in discussion with organiser Morris (Tim McGarry) about the finalists, ecstatic that there is a promising Israeli, dismayed that there is also a German. When they receive the list of final pieces chosen by conductors they are horrified to learn that the Israeli, Ya’akov (Benedict Wall) has selected the reviled, anti-semitic and implicitly banned Wagner.
From here, the play becomes a tense and emotional yet pragmatic debate about the modern significance of the holocaust, separation of art and politics and generational respect.
All performances are engaging and infused with nuance. The confrontations between the lanky, cocky young Ya’akov, dressed in street clothes and the distraught, weary yet alway impeccably presented Esther are riveting – and sometimes even moving. McGarry’s Morris is a loud, brash New Yorker, whose clearly stated position on the argument might have more to do with the affect on the competition than the affect on survivors. Miri (Kate Skinner) is an incidental character, an assistant, young and naive, who perhaps could have been embellished by Gordon to add comic relief.
The projection from the opening scene occurs frequently throughout, like an irrepressible memory, and there’s a violin leitmotif that adds another layer.
It’s a slickly produced and performed play on a subject that continues to rouse strong emotion.
Until 28, 7:30pm. Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst. $38-$50. Tickets & Info: www.darlinghursttheatre.com
Reviewed by Rita Bratovich.
