June 10–17, 1999

theater

A Multitude of Three

by Hans Kellner

Lebensraum

InterAct Theatre Company at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., through June 20, 215-569-9700

Lebensraum (Living Space) is a high-wire act of daring invention. In the near future, the new German chancellor awakes from a nightmare with a startling idea: In a gesture of reconciliation, he will invite 6 million Jews from around the world to make Germany their home. With just three actors, Israel Horovitz’s comedy-drama explores the reactions of more than 50 characters to the chancellor’s "Project Homecoming": an unemployed Jewish dockworker from Massachusetts who moves to Germany with his gentile wife and son; a flamboyant gay couple from France ("Chancellor, the first Jews are French queers!"); a band of Israeli militants bracing for a second Holocaust; and an Auschwitz survivor who journeys home to seek revenge on the neighbor who betrayed his family. Dozens of smaller characters — TV hosts, ministers, unionists, students, the descendants of both victims and perpetrators — provide additional commentary and context for Horovitz’s fantasy.

Though fiction, much of Lebensraum is filled with the kind of familiar detail that suggests a true story. Several of the play’s characters are as immediately recognizable as the subjects of a Holocaust documentary. Horovitz’s achievement is in making their stories fresh, rather than cliched. Director Seth Rozin successfully mines the play’s humor without diminishing the very real pain that is always beneath the surface.

Lebensraum is a tremendous workout for some very brave actors. Scott Greer, Harry Philibosian and Catharine K. Slusar juggle their multiple roles with impressive dexterity but often frustrating unevenness. For example, Philibosian is superb as both Rosensweig and Silberstein, two elderly Jews whose "workable enemyship" provides the production with its funniest dialogue. Unfortunately, Philibosian is also cast as the Massachusetts dockworker, a role for which he has neither the accent nor the affinity. Slusar and Greer are similarly challenged to invest each of their roles with the distinction of their strongest characters. They share an easy chemistry as an American Jew and a German girl whose political awakening coincides with their inevitably tragic first love. Slusar’s nervous talk about "the kissing" is sweetly matched by Greer’s gangly teenage awkwardness.

Ron Schindlinger provides live music and sound effects that add a rainbow of color to the production. In addition to his occasional background score, he evokes the clink of silverware, the hail of bullets, even the warble of a malfunctioning Walkman, with a playful ingenuity to match Horovitz’s vision.