Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 17, 1992 TAG: 9201170522
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`DARKLING' FLAWED BUT COMPELLING
"And We Were Left Darkling," the winner of the Mill Mountain Theatre New Play Competition, is ambitious, earnest and sometimes compelling.But what you have to keep in mind are the key words, "new play."
Playwright Lynn Elliott, a Welshman who is a member of the creative writing faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara, tackles the Holocaust, an unspeakable and unfathomable passage in world history.
His two main characters are riveting and particularly well-acted.
The setting is Budapest, Hungary, during the winding-down of World War II. Adolph Eichmann, the SS officer who eventually was captured and then tried and hanged in Israel, is proudly and efficiently sending Jews to the death camps.
Ed Sala captures the arrogance, the ordinariness and the ultimate evil of Eichmann with precision. An insecure salesman in civilian life, Eichmann blossoms into a monster with the acquisition of power.
Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish ambassador to Budapest, is his opposite. Wallenberg, who disappeared at the war's close, devoted himself to one purpose: the rescue of the Jews Eichmann was intent on destroying. Wallenberg is a gentle, humane man with an unyielding conscience. David Glenn Stern not only evokes Wallenberg's sense of mission but his innate decency as well. The stage is perfectly set for a duel of wits and philosophies.
However, the play goes off in many directions. Though they're at times interesting, they don't give it forward motion. Anna, well played by Basia McCoy, is an elderly Jewish woman who serves as a conscience to all sides. Brian Runbeck plays the head of the Jewish Council, which tries to mediate with Eichmann. Ben Luedke and Caroline Burrow play old schoolmates who find themselves enemies.
All told, there are 14 characters. During one scene, 10 are on stage in the small Theatre B. Staging an epic in an intimate theater is a difficult proposition. Powerful moments when Eichmann and Wallenberg are at center stage are diminished when unnecessary action erupts around them.
Finally, the production, directed by Mary Best-Bova, becomes overwhelmed by action and subplots. When "And We Left Them Darkling" turns to Eichmann and Wallenberg, though, it becomes a vivid reminder of how easily man can be seduced into evil and how much courage it takes to resist it.
Norfolk Southern Festival of New Works: "And We Were Left Darkling," Jan. 17-26. "White Money," Jan. 31-Feb. 8 (preview Jan. 30). 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees. $9. Virginia Theatre Works readings, free. Theatre B, Mill Mountain Theatre. 342-5740.