Suitcase disappoints

BAILA LAZARUS

As stories go, it's a plot worthy of Without a Trace, a tale of international investigation that covers three continents and more than half a century. It's also a four-hanky depiction of a true-life adventure, with children at its heart. But, unfortunately, the concept itself is not enough to make Hana's Suitcase a four-star choice. The character direction and staging are just two areas where the play drops several accolades.

There's no question that many people will love this play. Based on the multi-award-winning, international best-selling book of the same name by Karen Levine (Second Story Press), the story has been translated into more than 10 languages and is available in more than 30 countries. It follows two children – Akira and Maiko – and the curator – Fumiko – at the Holocaust Education Centre in Tokyo, as they try to reconstruct the story of a Hana Brady, the name (along with date of birth) on an old suitcase, sent to the centre from Auschwitz in 2000.
Armed with only the name and a birthdate, Fumiko starts contacting Holocaust museums and education centres around the world. But since Hana is only one of the one and a half million children who died during the Holocaust, the information to be found is scant.

Eventually, they find out she was from Czechoslovakia and was sent to Theresienstadt, so Fumiko travels to Europe to do some research there. She finally traces Hana's brother, George, to Toronto and convinces him to share his family's story with the education centre.

It's at this point in the play that details of Hana's life come out and, through this prism, the events of the Holocaust unfold. As Fumiko reads George's letter about his life, the members of Hana's family appear on stage, and the dialogue of the two time periods begin to overlap: a question asked by George as a young boy in 1941 is answered by Fumiko in 2000. A question asked by Akira in 2000, is answered by George's father in 1942.

It's a wonderful, seamless effect that really helps explain what happened, not only to Hana's family, but to every Jewish family in her town. One day, they are living a happy, normal existence, the next day they are banned from theatres, skating in the park or going to school. Through this letter, the children in Japan begin to realize that children, just like them, had their world turned upside-down and then ended, simply because they were Jewish.

Akira and Maiko decide to present a performance about Hana's life to children all over Japan, and they invite George to come and see it. The touching moment, when George is reunited with his sister's old suitcase, is perhaps one of the most poignant, and it spurred the rustling of Kleenex packages by many people in the audience.

While this play is an exceptional means to teach young children about the Holocaust, adult-goers may be very disappointed. The direction of Akira, for example, has him hopping up and down and acting so idiotic sometimes that it's painful to watch – and very annoying as the play goes on. I had no idea if he was supposed to be 12 or six. His counterpart, Maiko, is so knowledgeable and mature, she sounds more like a teenager. Both of them are supposed to be closer to Hana's age.

Although the set uses a fantastic array of multi-media displays, several times the props or actors themselves are placed directly in front of the screen, making it impossible to see what's going on.

For adults with children, this is a worthy performance to attend. Adults alone, however, should perhaps wait for a better show to come along.

Hana's Suitcase was written by Emil Sher and directed by Allen MacInnis. It is a production of the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People and is co-presented by Green Thumb Theatre and the Norman Rothstein Theatre. It runs at the NRT until Oct. 28, with various evening and matinée performances. There are also talk-back sessions with Holocaust survivors after selected shows. For tickets, call 604-257-5111 or visit www.tickets tonight.ca. For school and group sales, call Green Thumb Theatre, 604-254-4055.

Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.

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