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And it shall be forgiven...
A two-act play by Jason Slavik

January 15 - 24 2010
Directed by Robert Beck
Original Music by Mary Sutherland

It's 1942 in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, at the office that coordinates the deportation of Dutch Jews.  It is also 2007 in Amsterdam, in a deserted office and factory building, that is being remodeled by four college students for one of their grandmothers.  It's the same building and the same room, and the two time-lines intersect, bringing Devin Marx, one of students, and Lt. Fredrich Honheim, a German Army clerk, in unexpected contact.  The encounter challenges both to deal with history, differing cultures, truth, forgiveness, and the power of any individual to affect many other lives.  The result will send shock waves through all the people involved, confronting them with the truth of their lives.  

“Their current offering, Jason Slavik’s And It Shall Be Forgiven, falls definitely among the good—the very good. … Can you imagine a play that gracefully blends a Schindler’s List kind of story with the gentle, eccentric humor of Harvey?  Well, this is such a play. … There is much humor in this holocaust play.   Slavik fills the young people with a quick and very natural wit.  And, of course, there is some Harvey-like humor arising from people trying to deal with someone who is invisible.  … And I actually found myself weeping with joy as the kadish is recited and ‘the good German’ is released from his spiritual prison.   Young Jason Slavik may have boned up on his World War II German history, but it’s obvious that his mastery of the craft of playwriting comes naturally to him. “ – Steve Callahan KDHX

CAST

Lt. Friedrich Honheim Obersturmfuhrer Fingiert Obersturmfuhrer Erfundn Col. Gunther Dietrich Devin Marx Sara Rosenburg Micha Rosenburg Elaina Esperanta Serina Boyle

Jason Meyers Evan Masterson Shane O. Schultz Dennis Roach Mark Kelley Suzanne Greenwald Sean Christopher Lewis Amber Muschelli April Renee McCandless

An old office building in Amsterdam was used in 1942 as the office for deporting Dutch Jews commanded by Colonel Dietrich ( Dennis Roach) with most of the paperwork being done by a clerk Lieutenant Friedrich Honheim (Jason Meyers). MIcha (Sean Lewis), Elaina (Amber Muschelli) and Serina decide to go down to the local bakery to get something to eat, while Devin stays behind to take a shower. "Bring me back a bear claw." Devin's friends at first don't believe him until Honheim types on the type writer and makes the radio turn off and on. They decide to find a way to exorcise him so he can pass on. Sara discovers what they are doing and explains that she and her brother Isaac were one of the children saved by Honheim and that none of them or their descendants would have existed if not for one good man.

In 2009 the building has been inherited by Sara Rosenburg (Suzanne Greenwald) and is being renovated with the help of her grandson Micha and his three friends, Elaina, Devin (Mark Kelly), and Serina (April McCandless). Suddenly Devin, in just a towel and mouth foaming from tooth paste, encounters a working radio, picture of Hitler, and Honheim, scaring each other out of the room. Even though he saved several Jewish orphans Honheim believes he deserves his fate as Devin, Serina, Micha, and Elaina try one last ceremony. Honheim at last receives the forgiveness he desires and passes on. Sara leads Deven, Serina, Micha and Elaine in a kaddish for Honheim.