Make Me Gorgeous!

Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library

“Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library” by Jenny Lyn Bader, directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Luna Stages, at 59E59 Theatres, 59 East 59th St.
October 18 - November 10, 2024.
Tuesdays - Saturdays at 7:15pm. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:15pm, with added shows on Sunday, November 3 at 7:15pm and Thursday, November 7 at 2:15pm. No performance on November 5 (Election Day).
Running time is approximately 90 minutes.
Tickets are $44, $30 for 59E59 members.
Tickets and information:https://www.59e59.org
Premium ticketing is available.
Reviewed by Glenda Frank.

Photo by Valerie Terranova.

There are three high, barred windows and one door. Karl (Brett Temple), the Nazi officer who arrested Mrs. Stern (Ella Dershowitz) and her mother has the key to the lock. On the other side of the door is a heavy bolt, that thuds shut. In Jenny Lyn Bader’s “Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library,” the stakes are high. It is 1933 and Mrs. Stern is charged with treason, a capital offense in the Third Reich. The newly established bureau for political crimes is expanding exponentially. Mrs. Stern, known to us more familiarly as Hannah Arendt -- one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century, who coined the phrase “the banality of evil” at Adolph Eichmann’s trial -- has only her wits to save her. The ninety minutes play, directed by Ari Laura Kreith of Luna Stages, is essentially a confrontation between the prisoner and the young officer. A Jewish lawyer, sent by the Zionists, offers her assistance, but the offer is highly problematic.

The crime is leaking proof of antisemitism to the outside world, including documents from the Prussian State Library. Mrs. Stern loves research, spending days in the archives, but recently a librarian spied her wandering on different floors with collections far afield from philosophy. Her husband, who fled the country, was listed in Bertolt Brecht’s address book. But as a student, Mrs. Stern had had an affair with Martin Heidegger, recently appointed Rector of Freiburg University by the Nazi regime. Her case needs investigation. During the night, Mrs. Stern hears screams down the hall. Each prisoner is subject to their own interrogators’ methods.

Ella Dershowitz brings a delicate, deliberate charm and intelligence to the depiction of Mrs. Stern. It’s a poignant performance, balancing the façade of innocent bewilderment with a cunning flirtation as she attempts to build a personal connection with her jailor. They talk about how they fell in love, recipes, their childhood. She treats him like an older brother, asking and taking his advice and she leaves herself vulnerable. A chain smoker, she is grateful for the cigarettes he brings and the coffee from the officers’ mess.

One of the most poignant moments was her outburst about leaving her homeland, the loss of the language that she loves, the familiar places, the pride in German art and thought. Equally moving was the disquiet of the Jewish lawyer (Drew Hirshfield) sent to represent her. He claims that reputation exempts him from arrest but there is something in his manner that belies this. He mentions the ways Mrs. Stern can appease her captors, naming hidden communists or trading information, methods familiar to us from the HUAC investigations. You can feel his terror and his need for self-deception to continue defending the accused.

The German officer is a difficult role. He needs to be almost a villain, representing the regime, but also an individual who finds his safety in rules and order. Brett Temple is still struggling with the balance.

Bader has done her research and transformed it into a smart, engaging drama with three sympathetic but not necessarily likeable characters. Her Hannah Arendt is alive, not a textbook cut out, a motivation to read more of her life and times.

Period costumes by Deborah Caney. Lauren Helpern (Lortel Award for “4000 Miles”), the clean, crisp set. Cameron Filepas, lighting.