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- There is a clear philosophical division
among the three with the most obvious being between Rolf and Ali, a
Turkish native who denies the Armenian holocaust. Rolf and Peter are
staunch German nationalists, although they both condemn the Hitler era
and acknowledge it was a shameful part of German history. Yet they
disagree on the role of the United States as it pertains to Europe and
even in the role of present day Germany.
However, when young Robert comes
from Newport Beach in California to visit Dieter, it's as if a political
congress has suddenly convened, with Europe on one side and the United
States on the other. Author Stuercke has his characters place a microscope
on the state of the world, especially on America as seen through European
eyes, and the picture that emerges is a truth that is brutally disturbing.
Stuercke's people take no prisoners, leave no stone unturned and do not
tread lightly on revered icons. Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy, Dick Cheney,
the Bushes - especially "baby" Bush all find themselves raked over a
white-hot bed of coals at one time or another with one of the most damning
lines being "America's shame is its slaves and its Indians". Every
significant event that has affected American life is discussed and argued
as they dig into Robert, but from a viewpoint not often heard in the
American media.
If Sarah Palin mated with a Tea
Party devotee, they would have bred Robert. As played by Brett Fleisher,
Robert is what one might call a "fundamentalist American", staunchly
arguing for deportation of aliens, especially Mexicans while Rolf decries
the German problem with the Turks who are clannish, refuse to learn the
language and multiply in hordes.
The subplot is also a fascinating
study of human nature. For years Dieter admired and loved his parents for
having been vigorous opponents of the Hitler regime. After his mother's
death he finds some of her old papers and documents and discovers that he
was adopted and his real father was a prominent member of the hated Nazi
party. His friends who always felt he was better than they because their
own fathers had been Nazis are as shocked as he is, and while not
resolved, one gets the feeling that this may change the relationship the
friends shared.
From ancient Greek times, theatre
has always been a vehicle to present social evils allegorically or at
least in veiled disguises. Here the story begins as a civil conversation
among friends (as Dieter keeps trying to convince them), but soon the mask
is ripped off and what emerges is a visage of America that even the "Ugly
American" would try to avoid.
A definite must see for any one
concerned about this country.
Comments? Write to us at:
Letters@ReviewPlays.Com
El Centro Theatre through March 6,
2011.
Tickets: 1-800-838-3006
- Photo: John Stuercke
