Weekly Margin 2022, W38: As You Like It, Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski

 9/07/22: As You Like It

What: Shakespeare in the Park and Public Works present a fresh take on Shakespeare's play about love, poetry and subterfuge in the Forest of Arden, with new songs by Shaina Taub.

And? This was my first Public Works show, an organization which employs performers from all walks of life to fill the theatrical space with community. It's certainly a good text fit for it, especially when Duke Senior is celebrating his community's pastoral life in the forest. It didn't always mean the most satisfying execution of the text, however (and if I never have to hear that herald chorus for Duke Frederick again, it'll be too soon). But it's still a highly benevolent production: glad to be here, glad to be with us, and hoping we're glad to be here too. Rebecca Naomi Jones, who elevates every production she touches, is excellent here as Rosalind (even if her voice is tired, she still belts out her songs with passion and energy, and is met with well-earned cheers). Darius De Haas has been out for the past week, which meant I got to see Amar Atkins go on for Duke Senior, and he is absolutely lovely. So full of smile, of royal presence, and his strong tenor floats beautifully above the chorus. When he's onstage, it's hard to remember he is not, in fact, the main character in the show.

Bianca Edwards, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Idania Quezada, and Brianna Cabrera
as Phoebe, Rosalind, Celia, and Silvia. Photo by Joan Marcus.

9/11/22: Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski

What: TFANA presents a one-man play about Holocaust witness Jan Karski, who visited a ghetto and a camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and told what he saw to leadership in the UK and US, only to be ignored or disbelieved.

And? Heartbreaking. Infuriating. Extraordinary. The story Jan Karski has to tell is incredible, that one man did and saw so much, and the work of Clark Young and Derek Goldman to adapt that story into the play Remember This does real tribute to the man, and honor to the millions of victims who did not survive, despite his efforts. David Strathairn transforms himself into not only Karski, but all the people Karski met, with some fascinating fuzzy lines (all characters are portrayed, not by Strathairn, but by Strathairn-as-Karski, his Polish accent and lilt inflecting each character), and moments that overtake Karski seem to also overtake Strathairn. See this if you can--it's one of the highlights of the Fall season, calling it now.

David Strathairn. Photo by Teresa Castracane.