Playwright: Rinne Groff. At: Next Theatre, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Tickets: 847-475-1875; www.nexttheatre.org; $30-$40. Runs through: Nov. 17
U.S. novelist Meyer Levin ( 1905-1981 ) was instrumental in making The Diary of Anne Frank an international best-seller. Otto Frank ( Anne's father, her only relative who survived the Nazis ) gave Levin permission to adapt the diary for the stage, but the 1955 Broadway hit ( and following film success ) was not Levin's version. Legal action brought Levin a pyrrhic victory although little recompense, only fueling his life-long paranoid obsession about who screwed him ( authors Lillian Hellman and Carson McCullers made his list ). Compulsion is about the Diary and Levin, fictionalized as Sid Silver. Playwright Rinne Groff takes her title from Levin's 1957 success, Compulsion, a non-fiction novel about the 1924 "thrill killers" Leopold and Loeb.
The play uses puppets to perform scenes from the Diary and to allow imaginary conversations between, say, Anne Frank and Silver/Levin's long-suffering wife ( a French Jew and writer ). Puppet scenes are interspersed with realistic scenes as Silver/Levin fights an ever-changing slew of editors, agents and attorneys all played by only two actors. These varied theatrical techniques provide physical spectacleotherwise it's an all-talk showand help get inside Silver/Levin's head, where his monumental kvetch boils down to two things: his personal megalomania and his overwhelming self-identity as a Jew.
All of Levin's writings discourse substantially on the nature of being a Jew, and in those years immediately following The Holocaust, he saw The Diary of Anne Frank as a testament of Jewish identity and will. His virulent condemnations of Otto Frank, Broadway producers and others were driven by their dilution of the diary's Jewish-specific content in favor of so-called "universal" appeal. ( Sexual content also was deleted, especially 14-year-old Anne's same-sex speculations. )
Of course, Groff intends something larger. Silver/Levin's persecution complex is a stand-in for all Jews who face disguised anti-Semitism, Holocaust-deniers and "some of my best friends are Jewish" patronizing. It's intriguing and potent material, but of very narrow appeal. The hero, after all, is a paranoid, ego-centric monomaniac with a very short temper. Occasionally charming and obviously very bright, he nonetheless isn't easy to like even if you agree with him.
You'll probably like this production anyway, directed with vigor by Devon de Mayo. Mick Webber is a Silver lightning rod, attracting and discharging anger at will, and projecting the complexities of a passionate, often warm-hearted soul who knows he's out-of-control but cannot stop himself. Jenny Avery ably limns distinct personalities as Silver's wife and as a rising young editor who goes from friend to enemy. As the other men, John Byrnes moves smoothly from smarmy to forceful to friendly. Jesse Mooney-Bullock's doll, marionette and shadow puppets are excellent, as is Grant Sabin's highly theatrical set, featuring seven doors that slam, in turn, in Silver's face.
Compulsion
Playwright: Rinne Groff
At: Next Theatre, 927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets: 847-475-1875;
www.nexttheatre.org; $30-$40
Runs through: Nov. 17
BY JONATHAN ABARBANEL
U.S. novelist Meyer Levin ( 1905-1981 ) was instrumental in making The Diary of Anne Frank an international best-seller. Otto Frank ( Anne's father, her only relative who survived the Nazis ) gave Levin permission to adapt the diary for the stage, but the 1955 Broadway hit ( and following film success ) was not Levin's version. Legal action brought Levin a pyrrhic victory although little recompense, only fueling his life-long paranoid obsession about who screwed him ( authors Lillian Hellman and Carson McCullers made his list ). Compulsion is about the Diary and Levin, fictionalized as Sid Silver. Playwright Rinne Groff takes her title from Levin's 1957 success, Compulsion, a non-fiction novel about the 1924 "thrill killers" Leopold and Loeb.
The play uses puppets to perform scenes from the Diary and to allow imaginary conversations between, say, Anne Frank and Silver/Levin's long-suffering wife ( a French Jew and writer ). Puppet scenes are interspersed with realistic scenes as Silver/Levin fights an ever-changing slew of editors, agents and attorneys all played by only two actors. These varied theatrical techniques provide physical spectacleotherwise it's an all-talk showand help get inside Silver/Levin's head, where his monumental kvetch boils down to two things: his personal megalomania and his overwhelming self-identity as a Jew.
All of Levin's writings discourse substantially on the nature of being a Jew, and in those years immediately following The Holocaust, he saw The Diary of Anne Frank as a testament of Jewish identity and will. His virulent condemnations of Otto Frank, Broadway producers and others were driven by their dilution of the diary's Jewish-specific content in favor of so-called "universal" appeal. ( Sexual content also was deleted, especially 14-year-old Anne's same-sex speculations. )
Of course, Groff intends something larger. Silver/Levin's persecution complex is a stand-in for all Jews who face disguised anti-Semitism, Holocaust-deniers and "some of my best friends are Jewish" patronizing. It's intriguing and potent material, but of very narrow appeal. The hero, after all, is a paranoid, ego-centric monomaniac with a very short temper. Occasionally charming and obviously very bright, he nonetheless isn't easy to like even if you agree with him.
You'll probably like this production anyway, directed with vigor by Devon de Mayo. Mick Webber is a Silver lightning rod, attracting and discharging anger at will, and projecting the complexities of a passionate, often warm-hearted soul who knows he's out-of-control but cannot stop himself. Jenny Avery ably limns distinct personalities as Silver's wife and as a rising young editor who goes from friend to enemy. As the other men, John Byrnes moves smoothly from smarmy to forceful to friendly. Jesse Mooney-Bullock's doll, marionette and shadow puppets are excellent, as is Grant Sabin's highly theatrical set, featuring seven doors that slam, in turn, in Silver's face.