Welcome to Germany!
It’s great to be back! Back at Custom Made Theater Company (last time I was here we were performing at the Off-Market Theater), back working on another fabulous Tony Kushner play, and back to the Berlin featured in “A Bright Room Called Day.” I had the pleasure of doing this show back in college and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to get the chance to perform it again. I’m looking forward to seeing what new things I will be able to discover as Paulinka, and how some additional life experience will change the way I see her.
Something that has already struck me in the first few rehearsals is the political climate at this time in history. Post WWI, Germany is in financial ruin, there are rallies and feuding political parties everywhere, and yet Berlin is a creative and artistic hub. Still, somehow the Nazis are able to take control and lead the world into another war, and with this play we see it happen bit by bit. Kushner has a way of taking what is a complex and difficult vortex of events and breaking it down into smaller digestible pieces by showing us how it effects each and every one of his characters. Even the selfish and vain actress Paulinka has her moments of triumph in difficult situations within the context of this play.
I won’t say too much more, only that I am thrilled to be back on this journey. Welcome to Germany my friends, soon to be playing at a San Francisco theater near you!