I am haunted by this play.
I loved the novel, “The Book Thief,”(Knopf, 2007) and mulled over it for weeks after I finished reading it. The play is about the power of words and stories, but also about the randomness of life—and death—driven home by the narrator of the play: Death.
Set in Nazi Germany, the play focuses on the ordinary German family of Rosa and Hans, and their foster daughter, Leisel—the book thief of the title. The family and their neighbors struggle to maintain their humanity in a brutal world. Death starts the story when he sees Leisel as he delivers her younger brother’s soul out of his body. From that beginning, Death is fascinated by the teenager because she is someone he has left behind. He narrates and fills in the events happening in the broader world—all from the viewpoint of someone just doing his job—a job that gets very busy during World War II.
The play and the book are appropriate for junior high and up; although there were younger children in the show I attended. Death isn’t portrayed as a scary Grim Reaper—in fact the winning Francis Guinan looks a little like Bill Murray—but the brutality of the Nazis isn’t blunted, so keep that in mind if you’re considering “The Book Thief” for a child under 12.
Although Leisel, played by Rae Gray, is the main character and second only to Guinan in on-stage time, the characters I keep thinking about were three men: Rudy, Leisel’s friend and neighbor, played by Clancy McCartney; Mark Ulrich as her foster father, Hans; and Patrick Andrews, who plays Max, a Jew hiding from the Germans. Their performances rang true, and were the heart of the play.
Death closes the play by admitting that he is “haunted by humans.” It’s a stunning admission, since we are usually the ones haunted by death, but the bigger point is made—death is inevitable—it’s what we do with our lives that matters.
Steppenwolf is staging this as “Steppenwolf for Young Adults,” but like the novel, the play is engaging for adults, and the performance I saw was probably 50/50; teenagers and adults. The difficulty will be getting tickets. The majority of shows are sold out, but Steppenwolf is adding more performances. Check with the box office for availability.
Steppenwolf for Young Adults
Through November 11
“The Book Thief”
Steppenwolf.org
312-335-1650
