Fabrik

photo by Jim Baldassare

**** (...out of 5 stars)

Urban Stages

I am so glad that I caught this very special production that Patrick and Aaron have been raving about. By presenting this story of a successful Jewish businessman eventually captured by the Nazis in the guise of a children's puppet show we are allowed to experience the innocence and naive false sense of security that many Jews felt early on when the Nazi movement was in its infancy. The puppet work was gorgeous, charming, quaint, and at times heartbreaking and harrowing. There was a scene where an imprisoned Jew (being manipulated by an SS) was being forced to do a set of stand-up comedy. It was just a puppet but the fear in his voice and eyes as he bombed was as shockingly authentic as you would ever want to get.