Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
The play opens in pre-World War II Germany when many Jews were targeted and brutally eliminated. Lotte Jeager (Ann Noble), the wife of film critic Ernest Jaeger (Leo Marks), is Jewish. Although she doesn't want to leave him, to protect her husband from Germany's tyranny, she wants a divorce. We get a powerful sense of what Germany was like under the iron hand of Adolf Hitler.
Son of Semele and The Victory Theatre Center, producers Maria Gobetti and Matthew McCray, present the world premiere of Crevasse, a deep, open crack in that part of the history when the power of film had the ability to capture unfolding dramas and function as giant propaganda machine. Leni Riefenstahl, the famous German actress and documentary filmmaker/Nazi propagandist, wants to go to the
U.S. to promote her film,
Olympia
. She brings along Jeager as her publicist to arrange appointments with the studio executives and famous people in the film industry. One of the people she goes after is Selznick, but the appointment gets postponed indefinitely after Kristallnacht. In addition to her role as Lotte Jaeger, Ann Noble plays Leni Riefenstahl with finesse, while Leo Marks is also excellent as Walt Disney and Joseph Goebbels.
There is a lot of humor being throughout the play with playwright Tom Jacobson providing the taste of Germany and Hollywood (USA) in multiple colors, from ugly and dark to joyful and childish. Unimpressed at the prospect of meeting with Walt Disney, Leni says, "I am crossing the ocean for an appointment with a mouse."
Meeting with Walt Disney, who enchanted the entire world with his characters and who was one of the most creative forces of the time, is the perfect example of how Hollywood was a place where "even ugliness is beautiful." Hearing Walt Disney using profanity is something surprising for some of us and Ann Noble, in interacting with Walt as a perfect Leni Riefenstahl, is full of wit and amusement.
Crevasse is a perfect example of what great casting and masterfully explored writing in action can produce. The actors' long monologues as well as super-tight and exciting dialogue are timely and excellent. Matthew McCray's direction is precise and brilliant. The characters are clear and distinct and played with ease and greatness; not to mention the magical, super-fast changes of the wardrobe, which are perfectly chosen by Michael Mullen. Great period costumes!
Amazing work from everyone: Evan Bartoletti (Scenic Designer), Azra King-Abadi (Lighting) John Zelewski (Sound), Nicholas Santiago (Projection), Amanda Zarr (Prop Master), Erick Marguez (Production Manager), Erin Newsom (Stage Manager), Fiona Burrows (Assistant Director), Loren Davidson and Joe Seely (Carpenters), Luis Cortez, Juan Pardo & Rene Parras (Technical Crew), Gail Bryson (Literary Manager), Alyce Heath (Box Office) and Austin Highsmith Garces (Social Media).
A Note from the Producers, "We produce this play at a time when our 24-hour news cycle shows us repeated warning signs that fascism and the abuse of power is rising around the globe, including here at home. Sadly, though Crevasse takes place in 1938, the subjects it addresses feel important to explore."
There will be four additional weeks of performances in October, from Oct.4-Oct.27 at the Victory
Theatre
Center on
3326 W. Victory Blvd
, in
Burbank
. The play is excellent and highly recommended.
For tickets info go to https://thevictorytheatrecenter.org *** Photos by Matt Kamimura