THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO
THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Leo Rosten, the curator of all that is Yiddish, tells the story of the Jewish man who fell overboard while on a cruise ship.
Miraculously, he swims to an island where twenty years later he is rescued.
Before departing the lonely island, his rescuers and he make one final tour of the rudimentary accommodations the man had built for himself: a tree house for when waves threaten to over-run the island, a beach house for halcyon days, and two temples.
Out of curiosity, a rescuer asks the castaway, "I can understand why you built one temple: so you could keep the Sabbath, but why a second temple?"
"Oh that," the castaway replied, nodding contemptuously to the other edifice, "that is the temple I would never set foot in."
Similarly, Alfred Uhry, author of THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, explores the arbitrary and ironic conceits and arrogances that surface when a Jewish community is ensconced in Atlanta, Georgia amongst a nearly homogenous backdrop of Christianity.
Ross Valley Players, consistent with their tradition for excellence and revealing period pieces, is currently staging this award-winning segment of Uhry's Atlanta Trilogy which also includes DRIVING MISS DAISAY and PARADE.
Strange that in Atlanta, where one would expect the Jewish community would benefit socially, politically and economically from solidarity with other Jews, precisely the opposite result surfaced.
Western European Jews, mostly from Germany and Austria, condescendingly referred to Jews hailing from Eastern Europe as being "the other kind."
The hierarchal language and snobbish invectives directed at Eastern European Jews by German and Austrian Jews mimicked the very language of the nearly ubiquitous anti-Semitism and even the more vitriolic versions of it in Nazi Germany.
Astonishingly, Jewish Community Centers and Clubs in Atlanta actually excluded Jews of the Pale of Settlement or the rural Shtetl.
Abbott Saks, a recognized American Poet and husband to Survivor Kitty Friedenbach, touched on the same theme in his memorable poem: THE SHOWER.
She held the child close to her breast
And did not look upon the rest
Who numbed had heard the cold command.
'Disrobe and by the chamber stand . . .
Remember where your clothes are hung,
They must not be carelessly flung;
You'll need them when you're clean and dry . . .
On leashes strained guard dogs nearby;
Weary, hungry, yet proud unbowed,
Shtetl met Vienna in this crowd;
The learned, simple, rich, the poor,
From Krakow, Kovno, Rhineland, Rhur;
Though nakedness they could not hide,
They kept their dignity, their pride;
What had they done to know such pain?
Outside the shower with no drain,
She held the child close to her breast
And did not look upon the rest
But sweetly whispered words of love
Although brute guards did cruelly shove,
Although she knew what was to be . . .
Death, not water, flowed with Zyklon-B.
— Abbott Saks (by permission)
"Shtetl met Vienna" is the crux of this Tony Award winning play of 1997.
An assimilated upper class Ashkenazi: Sunny Freitag (played by the stunning Alicia Bruckman) via the machinations of her uncle: Adolph Freitag (played by the stage friendly stalwart Alex Ross) meets an Eastern European Jew: Joe Farkas (played brilliantly by Mike Cernokus).
To the average Goyim, the romance should have been as sweet as strudel.
Instead, despite the event of the day being Hitler's invasion of Poland, intra-ethnic bias rears its incongruous head.
Joe is invited to a lavish cotillion, or Ballyhoo, at the Freitag's country club.
When Joe Farkas discovers that the Freitag's restrictive club would normally exclude him and all Eastern Jews, he is unable to fathom nor tolerate such discrimination from within his own religious community.
While Joe is retreating from the ludicrous anti-Semitism of Semites in Atlanta, Sunny uses her time to constructively reexamine her conflicting prejudices, traditions, identity and beliefs.
To learn a little about the nature of prejudice and the power of love to conquer it, get thee to this heart warming, yet stirring and intelligent romantic-comedy-drama.
For tickets to what is guaranteed to be a superlative performance, call the RVP ticket office at 415-456-9555 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.