The play takes place over the course of a couple of days in Vienna in 2021, when we were just starting to come out of the pandemic. 90-year-old Gabriele, aka Grandma, is receiving a big award for her work writing about Austrian literature. It's her first time returning to the city of her birth after fleeing with her family as a child in 1938; they were Jews who saw the writing on the wall and were able to secure passage out of the country and into America. Gabrielle's daughter Elizabeth is a director who runs a theater in Seattle that is struggling to survive the pandemic, and granddaughter Natasha is an accomplished lawyer dealing with relationship issues. All three women have life-changing experiences in Vienna, and also come to understand each other better (although not without some fights and harsh words). Playwright Carey Perloff loosely based the play on her family and a trip she took to Vienna with her mother and daughter, and it shows in the authenticity of the characters and relationships.
Gabriele is thrilled to be home again, although reluctant to visit her family's apartment as Natasha wants her too. Elizabeth can't disconnect from her theater at home, and is angered by the reminders of the Holocaust in the city. Natasha, the granddaughter of a refugee, now works with refugees helping them receive asylum in the US, and learns she just won a big case. The trio sees the sights, Grandma gets her award, and they eventually are able to visit the family apartment. It's a cathartic scene, when all of their emotions are released and plans for the future are dreamed up as they sit on the floor eating traditional Viennese pastries from the famous bakery Demel.* The program includes a credit I've never seen before - food props artisan (Patty Mathews) - and the food props are indeed exquisite and apparently also delicious as they're devoured by the cast!
And this cast is simply a dream team; I really can't think of any better actors to bring these three complex women, with their complex relationships, to life. Nancy Marvy is always a gem, and fully embodies Gabriele in all her spunk and spirit, as well as her aging body that doesn't allow her to do everything she wants to. Miriam Schwartz is so open and authentic as Natasha, and Laura Esping is the glue holding the family together as Elizabeth, portraying the intricacies of both mother and daughter. In the hands of these three, with this excellent script, the mother/daughter and grandmother/granddaughter dynamics are strong and relatable.
Robert Dorfman directs the play and brings out all of the humor and pathos of the script. The dynamic staging makes us feel like we're travelling around the city instead of stuck inside a theater, aided by the gorgeous design. The Viennese cityscape adorns the white backdrop like a watercolor painting, with French doors leading to other rooms in the suite where the women are staying. They walk around the stage, turning around in the circle painted on the floor (referencing Vienna's Ringstrasse), and subtle lighting changes help us to almost see the locations they visit, particularly the bright and open family apartment. The costumes are modern casual chic travel wear, specific to each character. The pace of the play doesn't allow them to change despite the passing of days, but the addition of sweater, scarves, or a change of shoes provide subtle differences. (Scenic design by Michael Hoover, lighting design by Paul Epton, costume design by Bo Rainford, props design by Bobbie Smith, and sound design by C. Andrew Mayer.)
Austria has a long and complicated history, not just in the 20th Century but before, when it was part of the massive Austro-Hungarian Empire under Habsburg rule for centuries. I studied abroad in Salzburg in college, so the country is near and dear to my heart, but that doesn't blind me to its flaws and errors. My trip last fall was a bit of a homecoming, and our Viennese tour guide was brutally honest about its history. She told us in no uncertain terms that Austria was not Nazi Germany's victim, but its partner (our guide in Linz, Hitler's hometown, called it a "special history," which is one way to put it). As Gabriele points out, Austria has done work in terms of taking responsibility for their part in the atrocities and offering reparations, but is it enough? Could it ever be enough? These three fictional characters based on a real-life family that really experienced both the beauty and the cruelty of Vienna somehow find a way to make peace with the past, as it fuels them towards a better future.
I highly recommend a visit to Vienna in Austria (via a cruise or other means) and a visit to Vienna, Vienna, Vienna in St. Park's Highland Park neighborhood via this beautifully written play, perfectly executed by the cast and creative team at Six Points Theater. And if you attend the performance on Saturday April 4, you'll also get to sample some delicious Viennese pastries before the show!
*One of the best things I ate on my vacation was Kaiserschmarrn, aka the emperor's mess, which is the fluffiest pancakes shredded into bits and drenched in caramel, served with plum sauce. I bought it from a little stand outside one of those big gorgeous baroque churches that Gabriele raves about.
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| Kaiserschmarrn from Demel in Vienna |
