It would be so great if Mother Night were less topical. If we could listen to the hate filled propaganda which is being spewed out without having to ponder our current social and political situation. But no thinking person can fail to note the uncomfortable truth that so much of what we’re seeing onstage relates to what we hear on the news and read about in “the failing New York Times.” Most of the production belongs to the talented Gabriel Grilli as Howard W. Campbell, Jr. He’s an ordinary guy with an ordinary name. But when he’s ten years old, his family moves to Germany. All around him the National Socialist Party is gaining strength. But Campbell is a writer; he’s not political. He falls in love with his muse, a beautiful actress named Helga (Trish Lindstom). Together, they form their own little nation of two, and the outside world be hanged. Unfortunately, in turbulent Germany, this can’t last long. Campbell is recruited by both the Nazis, who want him to broadcast in English, and the Americans, who want him to pass along info hidden in his radio show. Soon, he’s in way over his head, working for the upper echelon of Hitler’s cabinet. There are things that are brought to him that are clearly ridiculous. Was Abraham Lincoln a Jew, and if not, why did his parents give him a Jewish first name? There are Jewish insults throughout the play. Although we are well aware that we’re in the theater, and the slurs are part of the drama, it is still distressing. We remember that Nazis marched in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us,” and our President declared that there were “fine people on both sides.” As the show continues, many of us in the audience feel more and more disquieted. Mother Night makes its point and then reinforces it for us. Campbell comes in contact with the archetypical rightwing nut, Jones (Eric Rice), who declares that Jesus was not a Jew, and Campbell has spoken the truth. Campbell befriends a neighbor, Kraft (Dave Sikula), who has a few secrets of his own. Life grows more and more perilous, but at least the playwright is reunited with his beloved wife, Helga, who was believed dead. Except…. The entire play is told from Campbell’s prison cell in Israel. He’s guarded around the clock. There’s no one to vouch for him; only three people knew he was an American spy. One is dead, as is another, the man he called President Rosenfeld. All that’s left is his Blue Fairy Godmother (Andrea Gallo), and she cannot help him because of her standing in the government agency which has sworn her to secrecy. So, it seems that Campbell is doomed. For me, the bright spot in this depressing couple of hours is discovering a bright new talent, Matthew Van Oss. As does most of the rest of the ensemble, he assumes several characters in the play, and he does so very well. But more importantly, Van Oss has Velcro. When he’s on stage, you can’t take your eyes off him. Much of his appeal is that he doesn’t resemble anyone else. We’ve grown so used to everyone looking alike, that it’s startling to behold a real individual without a plastic surgically sculpted nose and a tortured gym body. I look forward to his next projects, and while I expect his acting to grow and improve with age, I hope he never changes. I love this kid. While eminently well done, Mother Night hits too close to home to be comfortable viewing. It forces us to face what we already know: people believe what they want to believe. To question the source means to give up the secure knowledge that we are in the right, and they are to blame for all our problems. It often seems that in our country today the silent minority is now thinking people who reject the alt-right philosophy of Nationalism, exclusion, and blindly following the Pied Piper into the river. It’s time for us to be silent no more.
