RAW EMOTIONS ABOUT AUSCHWITZ AND HOLOCAUST EXPOSED IN MIAMI NEW DRAMA ‘HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES” AT COLONY THEATER IN MIAMI BEACH NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 14

Despite thousands of books, films and plays written about The Holocaust and specifically the deaths of millions of Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi Germany from 1933-45, one would think that all that needs to be expressed about Auschwitz has been accomplished. But there is evidence that changes that perspective. The one act drama “Here There are Blueberries” by playwright Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich, running now through December 14 at Miami New Drama’s Colony Theater in Miami Beach, focuses on the Nazi Germany perpetrators. The central focus of the play is on the discovered Hocker photo album, a scrapbook of photos taken by a Nazi officer stationed at Auschwitz during the 1940s.

What is initially shocking to the audience is that the photos are not of prisoners being murdered and tortured in Auschwitz. Instead, the Hocker photo album shows many Germans, both Nazi officers and others out of uniform, enjoying themselves frolicking and singing at picnics, sing-a-longs, celebrating and enjoying themselves at the entrance to Auschwitz. What the Germans are celebrating is totally unknown. The album was mailed anonymously to the United States Holocaust Museums in 2007 and the play follows eight actors who play the historians at the Holocaust Museum as well as the many Germans depicted in the Hocker album.

The audience learns quickly through the skillful acting of the eight actors who these smiling, happy Germans are and features all the actors in many solo scenes sharing what they know of their happy times at Auschwitz.

As the play unfolds, it becomes a difficult task to decipher which Germans shown in the Hocker scrapbook really knew about what was happening to the victims inside Auschwitz and were attempting to masquerade their feelings in these photos. The play also raised the question of which Germans were really happy in the photos because they really believed in the establishment of the supremacy of the German race and the final solution of exterminating all Jews in the world. Finally, the play also indicated which Germans honestly thought that there was no turmoil at all at Auschwitz.

What is depicted in the play is a new lens, so to speak,, by the actors is how some of the Germans were buoyed by the reality of Auschwitz and also, how some of the modern day descendants of the now deceased Nazis had to conceal their shame and how others denied that their ancestors were involved in the horrors of Auschwitz.

Perhaps the one character that understood the evil of the Nazi era and his personal disgust of what he learned about his grandfather, a Nazi doctor, was Tilan Taube, in an outstanding portrayal by actor Jonathan Ravid. Taube, believing firmly that his grandfather was more than mildly involved in the extermination of Jews, is pleading for other descendants of the Nazi perpetrators to speak out about their evil deeds.

Each of the eight actors played multiple characters, many as present day researchers in the Holocaust Museum and others as the perpetrators. Actors Delia Cunningham (US Holocaust Museum researcher Rebecca Eberling and others), Kimberly S. Fairbanks (Melita Maschmann), Barb Pitts McAdam (Judy Cohen), Christian Pedersen (Karl Hocker and others), Marrick Smith (Rainer Hoss and others), Grant Varjas (Peter Wirths) and Folami Williams (Charlotte Schuzel) all deserve much praise for their performances.
Credit the imaginative staging of Scenic Designer Derek Mclaine. Lighting Designer David Lander and Sound Designer Bobby Mcelever, (among scores of other behind the scenes staff) for creating the quiet, happy environment of Germans before descending into the darker, tense scenes as created by the actors, Playwright Kaufman doubled as the director and his guidance to the actors created memorable performances.

Although the Hocher photo album was showcased in the play, there is a surprise climax in the play that puts a rubber stamp on what is authentic and what is not authentic in the Hocker photo album.

“Here There Are Blueberries”, first performed in 2022 at La Jolla Playhouse in California and had numerous performances at many theaters over the past three years, won two Helen Hayes awards as well as being a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize. Audiences attending Miami New Drama’s production of “Here There Are Blueberries” will learn quickly why the play is so memorable.

Miami New Drama’s production of the one act drama “Here There Are Blueberries” by playwrights Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich is running now through December 14 at Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd. in Miami Beach. Tickets range from $35-$99. For ticket information and show dates and times, call 305-674-1040 or go to miaminewdrama.org