TimeLine Theatre presents A SHAYNA MAIDEL Review — separated sisters reshape their bond

Posted on by Susan Lieberman

TimeLine Theatre, shoehorned into Lakeview’s Wellington Avenue Church, physically embodies Barbara Lebow’s A SHAYNA MAIDEL. Every corner of the space and every moment of the play is full. Not everything flows smoothly. Not everything feels like it belongs. But when something works, it has real power. This production is about intense emotions erupting in intimate spaces.

Example: In the 1946 Upper West Side apartment onstage, there’s a red bread box in the kitchen. Rose, a self-supporting young Jewish woman, offers her father some Schnapps when he comes to visit. Yes, he replies, he’ll have some -- with a slice of bread. She takes two from the period-perfect bread box and he barks that he only needs one slice. Two is wasteful.

The moment defines character – overbearing Mordecai trapped by his own obsessions and earnest Rose struggling to forge an independent life. It also defines both personal and political history. For those unsettled by today’s global immigration crises, A SHAYNA MAIDEL offers a snapshot of a family separated when America closed its doors during World War II. Mordecai emigrated from his native Poland with four-year-old Rose many years before Hitler subsumed Europe. But he also left behind his wife and an older daughter Lusia – until it was too late to rescue them. His wife perished at Auschwitz, Lusia survived.

TimeLine Theatre A SHAYNA MAIDEL

Lusia (Emily Berman) dreams of her husband Duvid (Alex Stein), whose fate she does not know since they were separated during World War II.

Lusia (Emily Berman), now living in America, thinks back on her life in Poland before World War II.

TimeLine Theatre A SHAYNA MAIDEL

While her sister Rose (Bri Sudia, right) sleeps in the other room, Lusia (Emily Berman) dreams of reuniting with her husband Duvid (Alex Stein), whose fate she does not know since they were separated during ...

TimeLine Theatre A SHAYNA MAIDEL

Lusia (Emily Berman, left) and Rose (Bri Sudia) are two sisters trying to reconnect after years of separation brought on by the rise of the Nazis.

Survival and arrival shape A SHAYNA MAIDEL

When Lusia arrives in New York, baby sister Rose – remembered only as their parents’ “shayna maidel” (Yiddish for a pretty girl) – takes the bewildered refugee under her wing. Not only do they help each other fill in the blanks of the past, they also create a present for themselves as unlikely roommates and partners in dealing with tyrannical Mordecai. Blonde, blue-eyed Bri Sudia’s vitality as Rose contrasts richly with Emily Berman’s dark and haunted Lusia.

A SHAYNA MAIDEL’s other characters – doting Mama, best friend Hanna, vanished husband Duvid – have less nuance. This viewer yearned for more, even from Mordecai who, although a formidable presence, never reckons significantly with his misguided decisions.

Sisters shine in TimeLine Theatre’s production

Some flashbacks heighten the drama. Lusia and Hanna’s fear of entering an abandoned home after liberation and emaciated Hanna’s nausea when she eats some food that was left behind are palpable. But other flashbacks strike this viewer as contrived or unnecessary. The small fragmented stage – divided between a bedroom, hallway, dining area, living room and kitchen – hampers the many shifts in time and place.

TimeLine Theatre A SHAYNA MAIDEL
Lusia (Emily Berman, center) stands with her sister Rose (Bri Sudia, right) and speaks with her father Mordechai (Charles Stransky, left) for the first time in many years.

Despite the uneven storytelling, A SHAYNA MAIDEL delivers some deeply affecting moments. And anyone seeking a play in which sensitive women grapple with major issues will find substance in Rose and Lusia’s emerging relationship. Together, they make up for what their father has missed amid the bounty of America: taking two pieces of bread and relishing the sandwich of life.

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Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read – Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.

Cast:

Emily  Berman (Lusia), Bri Sudia  (Rose), Carin  Schapiro  Silkaitis (Mama),  Alex  Stein (Duvid),  Charles  Stransky (Mordechai), Sarah  Wisterman (Hanna).

Production:

Barbara Lebow (playwright), Vanessa Stalling (director), Collette Pollard (set design), Samantha C. Jones (Costume  Designer);  Rachel  K.  Levy (Lighting  Designer);  Jeffrey Levin (Sound  Designer  and  Composer), Hillarie M. Shockley (Properties Designer); Elise Kauzlaric  (Dialect  Designer), Sasha Smith (Intimacy Choreographer), Deborah  Blumenthal  (Dramaturg), Mary Zanger (Stage Manager)

When:

Now through December 16
Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 PM
Fridays at 8:00 PM
Saturdays at 4:00 & 8:00 PM
Sundays at 2:00 PM

Where:

TimeLine Theatre
615 W. Wellington Ave.
Chicago, Illinois

 

Note: An excerpt of this review appears in Theatre in Chicago

 

 

Ticket:

Price: 25$

visit TimeLine Theatre

Photos by Lara Goetsch

About the Author

Susan Lieberman is a playwright, journalist, teacher and script consultant who commits most of her waking hours to Chicago theatre. Her radio drama In the Shadows recently aired on BBC Radio 4. 

Editor's Note: Click here to find more Picture This Post reviews by Susan Lieberman

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