HONORING A FAMILY STUCK
IN A HOLOCAUST NIGHTMARE

Four actors, four moving walls, a wooden table and chairs, and historical projections combine into an extraordinary theatrical experience in the hands of director Darin Anthony, set and production designer Justin Huen, and projection designer Ben Rock who enhance the emotional impact of Paper Walls by Elliot Shoenman into a very personal experience at the Broadwater Main Stage theater audience.

Paper Walls is a story that reveals the enduring thread connecting the struggles of 20th-century immigrants seeking refuge and opportunity in America with today’s vitriol debates around immigration policy. It offers audiences profound reflection on resilience, hope, and the quest for finding their place in an ever-changing world, no matter the timing nor the place.

Warren Davis, Dana Schwartz, Casey J. Adler

On the surface, it’s the story of a Jewish family stuck in Berlin after ignoring the signs it was time to get out when the rise of antisemitism signaled they were no longer welcome there in the mid-1930s. But like so many others who thought it would never happen to them, the father, Herman Goldman (Warren Davis), a survivor of World War I in-the-trenches warfare and owner of a successful egg distribution factory in Berlin, believed he was immune from danger since he was servicing many high-ranking German companies and executives. And having lived in Germany for so many years, thought of himself as a German first. But all that changes when an all-controlling dictator takes over and starts getting rid of everything or anyone he does not like.

Wait – that sounds awfully familiar to what’s going on in America right now, doesn’t it? And that’s the point. We need to open our eyes and not ignore what’s going on right here as more and more of our civil rights are being taken away. But back to Paper Walls.

Derek Manson, Dana Schwartz, Casey J. Adler

Immigration to America is a hot button topic and the cause of current ICE raids to deport those without the proper papers to be in our country. And that’s exactly what happens to the Goldman family in Berlin in the mid-1930s, based on the true story playwright Shoenman’s father experienced immigrating from Germany to America. And the loss of his parents and brother who he could not get out during the Holocaust haunted him for the rest of his life.

The delays in getting them out were attributed to fun-loving late-night cabaret and races-going brother Albert Goldman (Derek Manson) being seen as a political threat to the government after defacing a political poster. And with his only ID taken by the Germans, his family’s location was known, causing the immediate need for the two brothers to try and escape being captured. Caught and injured to the point of no longer being able to walk classified hard-working factory manager brother Walter Goldman as undesirable for immigration into the United States. But Albert, fearing for his life, manages to get away and hide in another city, a move that assisted him in escaping Germany once his papers came through.

Dana Schwartz, Derek Manson

Once the family learned their only hope of escaping to America was to get Polish citizenship paper, and as dangerous as it was, the mother, Sara Goldman (Dana Schwartz) and cabaret-loving brother Albert (Derek Manson) had to take a train into Poland to get those papers, a treacherous journey shared during the play with accompanying projections and sound effects, effectively channeling their fear and confusion.

Much time is spent in small rooms, achieved by moving the four walls very close together, sharing the family’s time in hiding while waiting for their proper papers to come through as Polish citizens (Jews could not be identified as German citizens). It was a years-long process due to red tape and the low quota of Polish people being allowed into America. And the creative team brilliantly cradles every emotion, hopeful moment, and terror-filled confrontation to make the experience seem incredibly real, thanks to the four actors’ remarkable portrayals on people on both sides of the disputes.

Casey J. Adler, Warren Davis, Derek Manson

While the family was in hiding in two cities and long as phones were working, it was possible to speak with each other, which was how the family devised a plan to meet in Liverpool after their Polish papers came through, sponsored by an uncle already living in America. But delays from both cities and problems with immigration when leaving Germany meant Albert lost touch with the rest of his family and arrived in Liverpool three weeks late. But where was his family? Had they left without him? Or were they still in Germany? And there was no way to communicate with them to find out.

Final scenes take place with one brother safely living with his uncle in NYC, still unable to reach his family and never knowing what happens to them, resulting in lifelong guilt and remembrance. And that’s a story I heard over and over again from my own grandparents who fled Eastern Europe for America in the early 20^th Century, leaving so many of their own family members behind – and never heard from again.

Dana Schwartz, Casey J. Adler

Technical wizardry abounds as walls are moved by cast members and stage manager Jonathan Strebe between scenes to create new spaces in different shapes and sizes. Costumes designed by Sara Curran Ice allow for quick character changes with just a few items of clothing as walls are being moved. Train and bus rides take place on top of the table while moved into place on stage, sometimes with a slot left between walls to simulate a door or window. Sound design by Marc Anthoio Pritchett includes marching soldiers, breaking glass, trains moving across tracks, crowds roaring to life, or the squeaks of the smallest mouse tormenting those in hiding. Lighting designed by Nita Mendoza includes incredible fire sequence projections when the father’s egg factory is burned to the ground.

Kudos to all four actors for their outstanding ensemble work: Derek Manson as brother Albert Goldman; Casey L. Adler as brother Walter Goldman/German Officer/Consul Official/Rabbi Stern; Warren Davis as father Herman Goldman/Hans/Sol Goldman/Max; and Dana Schwartz as loving mother Sara Goldman/Trudy/Lena/Bella. Each of those secondary characters plays a momentous part in the Goldman family’s life. Special kudos to director Darin Anthony for bringing together such an extraordinary team of actors and creatives to create a play that needs to be seen by everyone, everywhere.

photos by Zoia Wiseman

Paper Walls
Broadwater Main Stage Theater, 1076 Lillian Way
The Inkwell Theater
90 minutes without an intermission
Thurs & Sat at 8; Sun at 3 & 8
for tickets ($35 with PWYC tickets available for all performances), call 310.551.0918 or visit Inkwell