Post War Germany Brought to Life in Harlem: Lydia Nightingale’s new play ADELE IN BERLIN, to Premiere in the Strawberry One-Act Festival

By Jenna Doherty

In her new play, Adele in Berlin, Lydia Nightingale grapples with the issue of sexual assault. The play is a sequel to another of her works, Tinted Red. In Tinted Red, Adele, a German woman, is trapped in a prison camp during World War II. Adele in Berlin continues the story post­war, and post Adele’s escape to freedom. The story,

inspired by the experiences of Nightingale’s grandmother, examines the dynamic between the soldiers­ both American and Russianoccupying the country and the German women who they lived among them. The lives of these women were fraught with sexual harassment, as a variety of war traumatized men exerted power over them through sexual violence. For Nightingale, the project started as an exploration of her biological grandmother’s story during a historical period of particular interest to her. As she researched, Nightingale was

Lydia Nightingale

struck by the reality of how powerless the women in this context were to refuse sex. Her focus shifted. She began to wonder “What did she [Nightingale’s grandmother] and the women who'd shared her situation need me to tell people? What kind of reconciliation did I need to make with the volatile heritage she represents? It's been both a sobering and a rewarding journey.” While some would like to pretend that the rampant sexual exploitation these women faced is a result of the tumult of the time and the war they lived through, Nightingale acknowledges that her piece is timely because the issues these characters dealt with are very alive, and an extremely real part of the fabric of our contemporary society. 

    Sexual violence is an issue for people of all backgrounds, and a multitude of factors including but not limited to sexuality, gender, socioeconomic class, race, homelessness, and citizenship status affect the circumstances surrounding and frequency of assault. Half of all transgender people experience sexual assault, and they are six times more likely to suffer further violence from the police, making reporting assault and hate crimes less of a viable option for transgender survivors. Often overlooked and misunderstood, 3% of men have experienced sexual assault or an attempted assault. One in six women experience an attempted or completed sexual assault, and as a college aged woman, the fact that one in four women are sexually assaulted during college has been branded in my mind. During my first college tour, when I first walked into the school’s main building, I remember seeing a huge banner with those words on it. Young and naive at the time, that number, 25%, seemed incomprehensible. Statistics like these reveal just how

terrifyingly prevalent rape is in our culture, and how we are not as a collective doing enough to prevent these attacks. There are so many reports of sexual assaults during which no bystander interfere to help those who are assaulted. In the case of assaults that occur on campuses and are handled through a university’s administration, often the school does little to nothing to discipline the perpetrator, protecting the name of the school and the perpetrator over the survivor. Think for example of Emma Sulkowicz, of the “Carry that Weight (Mattress Performance)” performance art piece, who survived sexual assault only to have to live on a campus with the perpetrator for the rest of her college experience. I have stopped being shocked by the atrocities recounted in survivor’s stories of sexual assault. Early in high school, I remember feeling shaken when I first heard about the quarter of women who would have been sexually assaulted by the time they finished school, I remember being shocked by the Steubenville case and the way numerous people­ members of that community, news anchors, and more­ were willing to defend the perpetrators. Now, not so many years, I’m never surprised when hearing about cases of sexual assault. I’ve learned that it’s everywhere and that we as a society don’t do enough to prevent perpetrators from committing or attempting to commit this crime, and that a large portion of the population all too often places blame on the victim rather than the perpetrator. This knowledge makes adds a bit of fear to the way I navigate the world. I don’t like being alone in unfamiliar places or being alone with people I don’t know well. At the same time, I know that those fears are hollow, because perpetrators of sexual assault are often people that the victim knows well, and even trusts. 

            I once had a friend instruct all our other friends to “please always watch out for your other friends when you go out at night. When we hang out together, I’ll never let anything bad happen to you”. The friend in question is very caring and wonderful, but the truth is we should not place the focus on “not getting raped”. We live within this rape culture where the responsibility to not be attacked is put on the victims, when really we should be raising people to not rape, and should be firmer in punishing those who commit sexual assault. In the case of attacks on female bodies, this rape culture is enabled by the sexism that is engrained in our society. More visible and universally unacceptable actions like rape, relationship violence, and murder are supported by a larger network of cultural norms that people take less offense to, including catcalling, dress codes, sexist humor, and the hyper­sexualization of female bodies. Nightingale, with her play, is contributing to the growing movement to

break the silence about assault and the way that our culture supports its existence. Says the playwright, “sexual violence in war and as a daily demonstration of power is as prevalent in this time as it was mid­century. In terms of degrading and damaging experiences a human being can go through, rape is one of the worst, and it needs to be recognized and fought against with all of our resources on all fronts. I believe that no matter what historical period you set it in, presenting the truth of that type of violence and control in theatre­ where the action is only feet from you, where you can’t just change the channel, where it forces you to confront your own feelings on it in real time­ can be a very effective way to jolt people and get them to join that fight . . . In terms of handling material like this, I think that instances of sexual assault in drama have to be used sparingly, and only if they’re absolutely essential to the plot and theme of the play. I am not a fan of rape being portrayed for pure shock value or used as a cheap plot device just because the writers need a dramatic scene. Sexual abuse was a very real and very horrific part of the post­ WWII era in Germany, and if people are going to attain more than just an academic understanding of that, I believe they need to see it happen.” 

            Artists have always been inclined to use their work to address the serious problems of their societies. Do you think that in the case of sexual assault theatre can be a successful medium for raising awareness about the varied, insidious expressions of rape culture? How do we go about breaking down the notions about sex and assault that have been socialized in us for centuries? Let us know what you think by commenting below or tweeting us @RiantTheatre.  Be sure to see Adele in Berlin during Series B of the Strawberry One Act Festival on Wednesday, August 5th at 9pm or Sunday, August 9th at 7pm at the TATO LAVIERA THEATRE, 240 East 123rd St, NYC.  For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com.

Home Alone At Age 56: Pat Hart’s New Play, Book Wench, To Premiere In The Strawberry One-Act Festival

By Jenna Doherty

          I have always tended to worry more than I should, but I don’t believe that the considerable number of nights I’ve fallen asleep while considering what I would do if someone broke into my house are that unusual. I keep in mind where all the sharpest objects in my home are located, and have considered many times how I would ideally save myself, my family, and my turtle should someone treacherous enter my home. To be honest, I’ve thought out possible ways to save my companions in a variety of settings. Survival under extraordinary circumstances is something I consider in most places I frequent- meeting spaces, the subway, school, and many more. The scenarios I’ve imagined over the years have seen me through increasingly complex trials, in which I respond to a home invasion with Home Alone level ingenuity and heroism. While I may be too much of a worrier, I don’t think my fears are unfounded. There is an unacceptable amount of violence in America. 

Pat Hart

          Book Wench, Pat Hart’s new play, explores, to paraphrase the author, how violence can occur so randomly, and so unexpectedly, and how someone might react should they find themselves “suddenly in danger”. The play follows a middle aged woman, Margie. She used to be called the “Book Wench” by neighborhood boys because she kept the books at the little league games. She is outside on her porch, smoking a cigarette during a snowstorm, when she is attacked by a young man with a gun. When the young thief turns out to be someone who once played little league baseball with her son, Margie must decide between her maternal instincts and desire to help him and saving her own life. As the playwright describes it, people who perpetrate violence are like sharks and “this is not the shark's story, it's Margie's story. She's the Book Wench, the keeper of stats, the recorder of deeds both good and bad, and when she encounters the shark, she knows him.  Her dilemma is that she sees both the shark and the child, and she has to decide, very quickly, whether to kill the shark or nurture the child and she has to live or die with the decision she makes.”

          Suspenseful, comedic, full of heart, and maybe a little frightening if you already have trouble falling asleep at night, the play unfolds somewhat like one of those questions of ethics from an introductory philosophy class. You know, the sort that

goes like, “You are directing a couple of trains and they are about to crash. You can only save one of the trains. On train A there is a parent who has three young children and a murderer. On train B is the smartest human in the world and a terminally ill person. Which one do you save?” As an audience, we are forced to grapple with the deep unfairness of fate, and the way some of us are born with great potential for a wonderful life, while some are born into seemingly hopeless situations. 

          Furthermore, the play is notable in that it tells the story of a woman over the age of forty. Female playwrights and protagonists are already something of a rare species, but there’s a very valid reason that actresses over thirty are particularly unhappy with the pool of roles available to them. “I don't think there is an awareness of how . . .  invisible a woman becomes after the age of forty,” said Hart in an interview when I asked her about her thoughts about the male dominated nature of theatre (and really, all forms of storytelling).

Meryl Streep, Melissa McCarthy & Kristen Wiig

As a society, it seems as though we are trying to move toward more well-rounded and satisfying female characters in the arts and literature. For instance, Vanity Fair recently declared that “Four Years After Bridesmaids, the Summer of Female Comedy Is Finally Here. What Took So Long?” Hart believes that the best way to diversify the stories we encounter through theatre is simply to “request plays from middle-aged women, and they will write them”. We need to be purposeful in our dramatic consumption and develop an audience and a demand for female artists. Hart’s well written and gripping play is a testament to the need to be looking for theatrical material from a variety of voices. How tragic it would be to miss out on stories like hers. 

 

          So… does Margie make it through the night of moral turmoil and grave danger? How would you handle such a frightening circumstance? Comment below or tweet us @RiantTheatre, and come see how Pat Hart ties Book Wench together with a satisfying conclusion during Series G of the Strawberry One Act Festival on Sunday, August 9th at 5pm and Wednesday, August 12th at 9pm.

For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com or call the Box Office at 646-623-3488.

Riant Theatre to Bring 28th Season of the Strawberry One-Act Festival to Harlem in August

Over 30 Plays from Mainstream to Multicultural Compete for Top Awards

at Tato Laviera Theatre from August 5 – 23

Strawberry One-Act Festival Launch Party and Pioneer of the Arts Awards

 at Poet’s Den Theatre on July 26

New York, NY (June 4, 2015)--The Riant Theatre celebrates the 28th Season of the Strawberry One-Act Festival this summer by bringing the eclectic theatrical awards competition to Harlem from August 5 – 23 at the Tato Laviera Theatre, 240 East 123rd St, between Second and Third Avenues.

“Diversity is the key with the Strawberry One-Act Festival,” said Van Dirk Fisher, founder and artistic director of the Riant Theatre, a multicultural and inclusive institution, and the Strawberry One Act Festival. “We have 30 playwrights from all over the country covering a myriad of topics. This includes Muslim, LGBT, African American, Hispanic and Asian playwrights offering unique story themes.”

This year, the festival is also presenting five full-length plays. Fisher has produced over 1,500 one act plays at the Strawberry One-Act Festival, which was established in 1995. Under Fisher’s direction, seven anthologies of The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival have been published. Several of the plays have gone on to be produced at college and regional theaters. The Strawberry One-Act Festival has been called “The American Idol for Playwrights” by the New York Daily News.

“Why did I decide to bring the Strawberry One-Act Festival to Harlem?  Well anyone who's been to Harlem recently will tell you that all of Harlem is a Buzz!  There are so many things to do in Harlem, a wide range of restaurants to satisfy several palates from around the world,” said Fisher, who originally produced the Strawberry One-Act Festival in Lower Manhattan.  “Art is thriving in Harlem. There are art fairs, jazz clubs, museums, walking tours,

wonderful bed and breakfasts and hotels.  Bringing one of the most renowned play festivals to Harlem just seemed like a natural progression.”

The Strawberry One-Act Festival will kick-off with a launch party on Sunday, July 26 at the Poet’s Den Theatre, 309 East 108^th Street, between Second and Third Avenues. It features the Strawberry One-Act Festival Pioneer of the Arts Awards and a screening of the “Video Diaries Project,” short films created by the competing playwrights. The Pioneer of the Arts Awards will be presented to award-winning theatre director, Liesl Tommy, who was born in South Africa and Peter Anthony Andrews, president and CEO of Global PrimeVision and former vice president of NBC Entertainment.

The winners of the Strawberry One-Act Festival Awards  will be announced at a special ceremony on Monday, August 24  at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.  The Riant Theatre's Awards Ceremony & Performance for the Strawberry One-Act Festival will feature performances from the four best plays from the festival and present awards for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Short Film.  

For more information on the Strawberry One-Act Festival’s 28^th Season, please check out the website at www.therianttheatre.com or call 646-623- 3488.