Members of the Venice, Calif., senior center (Mari Vial-Golden, left, and Zoe Geltman, right) recall the Purim story.
Antisemitism, as “the world’s oldest hatred,” appears to defy time limits. It may cloak itself in the cultural norms of a particular society, but similar tropes, accusations, and treatises, sometimes tweaked, resurface in different locations. Remember This Trick, deftly directed by David Herskovits, who also doubles as sound designer, is a collaborative, thoroughly engaging exploration of antisemitism across millennia, and the resilience and survival of those who experience it.
At the outset, Jesse (Sound Demon, as himself) perches on steps. He demonstrates a card trick attributable to survivor Werner Reich, who learned it from Herbert Levin, a kindly Auschwitz bunk mate. It served Reich well after liberation, and Freedman counsels the audience to remember this trick and its strategic value.
The evil Haman (Danny Bryck, right) plots to kill all of Persia’s Jews. Two of the king’s councilors (Zoe Geltman, center, and Mari Vial-Golden, left) accompany him.
This “hook” segues to a scene where multiple aging seniors at the Venice Beach facility are asked by sociologist Barbara Myerhoff (the late author of Number Our Days) to share their life stories. Pogroms, exterminations, harrowing escapes, and survival strategies are common to them. Yet the Biblical Purim story, from the Book of Esther, and the play’s rendering of it, is the dominant thread uniting the many narratives and symbolizing Jews’ reversals of fortune over millennia.
Through choreography, sound effects, supersized heads with distorted features that represent the “international Jew,” (so labeled by Henry Ford, as mentioned in the dialogue) and other characters, the story from the Book of Esther pits Haman (Danny Bryck), evil advisor to a weak King Ahaseurus, ruler of the Persian Empire, against the Jewish leader Mordechai. Haman bribes the king to exterminate the Jews throughout Ahaseurus’s empire.
The play, which is mostly staged in an open space with the audience on the periphery, is also, in Target Margin’s own words, “radically inclusive,” intermittently incorporating the “offstage” crew as part of the narrative, action, and prop holding onstage. The cross-gender multicasting—the actors in the Purim story are played alternately by men and women—works well, but to keep track of the characters, one must follow the shifting crowns. Actors Bryck, Yehudah L. Hyman, Zoe Geltman, Sarah Suzuki, and Mari Vial-Golden seamlessly navigate their way through multiple characters, accessories, and giant heads. The many character, prop, and accessory changes imply that the externalities of wardrobe and public demeanor may change, but the underlying prejudices and malfeasance do not.
King Ahaseurus (Sarah Suzuki) of Persia wields her royal scepter. Photographs by Justin J. Wee.
Beth Goldenberg’s costume designs distinguish those simply-attired, humble survivor storytellers from the vividly-dressed Purim characters in and around the king’s court, at the apex of power—until they’re not. Barbara Samuels’s lighting and multilevel (bleachers and open space) scenic design add a slightly surreal quality to this journey across time and landscapes, a quality that is reinforced by David Rosenmeyer’s musical direction. Actors perched on those steps, some of whom are masked by the giant heads, are reminiscent of a Greek tragedy. The difference is that in Remember This Trick, the characters suffer greatly but still manage to survive.
Purim symbolizes ultimate redemption from nefarious plots to demonize and exterminate the Jews or to launch conspiracy theories against them (The Protocols of Zion and even Marjorie Taylor Greene get a mention). Much like Haman’s plans, and Hitler’s, the play posits that even with the antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and outright nefarious planning that put Jews at knifepoint, there are often dramatic reversals that beg the question, “Why are the Jews still here?”
The play vacillates in time, and its fluid construction underscores the maligning and stereotyping of Jews, who already risk safety and acceptance. Even Irving Berlin takes a jab at his fellow Jews in Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars, where he pokes fun at a dying Jew who recovers because
Cohen owed me ninety-seven dollars
And my son went out and made poor Cohen pay
A bill was owed to me by Rosenstein and Sons
And they settled on that very day
What could my son do with all that money
If I should leave it all and say goodbye?
It’s all right to pass away, but when people start to pay,
That’s no time for a bus’nessman to die.”
The cast members recognize antisemitic comments by Jews and non-Jews, but those children of Holocaust survivors among them have a deeper cognizance. Although an audience unacquainted with antisemitism may require extra concentration to understand its pervasiveness, Remember This Trick conveys the exigency of doing so.
Remember This Trick runs at the Doxsee Theater (232 52nd St., Brooklyn), through March 17. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; matinees are at 4 p.m. Sundays. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact the box office at (718) 398-3095 or visit targetmargin.org/remember-this-trick.
Script: A Target Margin collaboration
Direction & Sound Design: David Herskovits
Music Director: David Rosenmeyer
Lighting & Scenic Design: Barbara Samuels
Costume Design: Beth Goldenberg
