An award winner at
the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival, this mesmerizing play is about identical twins
in Berlin in 1930’s Germany who witness the rise of Nazism. One of the sisters
is a cabaret singer, the other, the brilliant one who writes her materiel, is disabled
by cerebral palsy.
We see how Magda must moderate her performances to please the
ominous cabaret attendees; while from the shelter of their apartment Matilde realizes
the oncoming tumult. As they endure we
are aware of the awful danger they face from the mad Nazi distortion of the
science of eugenics.
Playwright Janet
Schlapkohl wrote the play for identical twins Emily and Elizabeth Hinkler and
their extraordinary identification with the relationship brings it vividly to
life. There is not a moment that rings false, as we bear witness to their
loving connection.
In her songs Emily (Magda) has a sweet melodious voice and saucy
manner, but with her sister she is motherly and anxious. In her isolation
Elizabeth (Matilde) writes savage anti-Nazi sketches and dark poems that show
her awareness of the evil lurking outside. Although the story is set in tragic
circumstances, the spirit of the play is life affirming and heroic.
Odyssey Founder
Ron Sossi, who discovered the play at the Fringe, adds his direction to Paul
David Story’s, to expand and enrich the staging. Original music is by
Christopher Gene Okiishi with lyrics by Schlapkohl, and incidental music by
onstage accompanist Barbara Rottman.
At Odyssey
Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd, West LA, through March 6. Tickets: (310)
477-2055 or www.OdysseyTheatre.com.
Photos by Enci Box.
Also reviewed
in the February issue of NOT BORN YESTERDAY.
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