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Historic night in Youngstown
By STEPHANIE OTTEY
YOUNGSTOWN
On Friday, history was made in Youngstown.
J. E. Ballantyne’s new play “A Light in the Darkness: A Story of Hope During the Holocaust” made its world premiere before a fully engaged, sold-out audience and one extraordinary guest. The muse for Ballantyne’s play, Eva Schloss, sat in the front row, one hand on her chin, watching intently as her childhood memories came to life.
“A Light in the Darkness” is inspired by the true stories shared in Eva Schloss’s book “The Promise,” which chronicles the struggles of her family during World War II as they fall victim to the Holocaust. Eva is the stepsister of Anne Frank. For the past three years Ballantyne has worked to create a play that would fully capture the significance of Eva’s struggle. With some guidance from Schloss he has certainly done that. Ballantyne’s adaptation is sobering and humbling, but it leaves the audience with warm, hopeful hearts.
The delicately worded script is not melodramatic or clich ’, and Ballantyne chooses his dialogue with care. He maintains the voice of Eva throughout.
Ballantyne’s adaptation is presented at The Victorian Players theater by a cast of actors that exhibits enormous respect for the events and people represented. Grace Offerdahl plays the young Eva and does so with a confidence that belies her young age.
Barbara Malizia and Thomas Lee Ewen represent Eva’s “Mutti” and “Pappy” throughout the play and represent the determination and hope that carried the family through the horrific events of the Holocaust. Dylan White leaves a lasting impression as Heinz Geiringer, Eva’s brother. Heinz is a tragic victim to the Nazis, and White’s performance is a sensitive, noble honor to him. One of the most poignant moments of the play happens when he asks, “What happens to us when we die? Do we disappear? Are we forgotten?” Ewen replies with “I promise you this: everything you do leaves something behind… nothing is lost.” That wisdom that has stayed with Eva throughout the years.
The set and costumes are simple but chosen well. There is just enough to suggest a time period and setting. No overly-ambitious attempt is made to try and re-create the devastating scenes of the Holocaust, showing a respect for the atrocities that occurred.
These positives are practically unnecessary. The devastating but hopeful message behind the story of Eva Schloss is so strong that production value is rendered irrelevant. To see “A Light in the Darkness” is not to see a theatrical production, rather it is to see and feel history. Through photographs shared by Eva and a narration recorded in her voice, the audience is transported to Austria in WWII. The play gives the audience unprecedented insight into the fear and determination felt of thousands of Jews. In addition, the audiences who attend the first six performances will be treated to a post-show dialogue with Eva Schloss, Ballantyne, and the cast and crew of “A Light in the Darkness.” This gives auidence members the opportunity to ask questions, understand the life of this brave woman, and converse with history.
Friday’s discourse led to the most important critique of the show: Eva’s. “I have no words to describe this experience,” she says. “The family scenes, the family relationships were beautifully portrayed… It brought things back to me very clearly.”
But why would Eva care to relive the horrors of the Holocaust? Why remember clearly? “Anna (Frank) lives on, but what about poor Heinz? He is forgotten. Not by my family, but by everyone else he is forgotten… I’ve kept a promise to my family; it’s very important to me. Now his (Heinz’s) body is gone, but his spirit lives.” And so will the legacy of Eva.
“A Light in the Darkness” will give you perspective into your own life, and offer incredible amounts of hope to be remembered in trying times. This historic, monumental event should not be missed.
This production runs weekends through Oct. 30 at Victorian Players on Mahoning Avenue, Youngstown. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. A matinee also is scheduled Oct. 22.