WEST ORANGE, NJ — Luna Stage will launch the 2019 MainStage season with the world premiere of Jenny Lyn Bader’s “Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library,” directed by Ari Laura Kreith. Set in Nazi Germany, this suspenseful drama explores the relationship between Hannah Arendt and the young prison guard who arrests and interrogates her. Previews begin Oct. 17, with the show opening two days later on Oct. 19 and continuing through Nov. 10.
The play takes place in 1933, after Hitler has declared a state of emergency. Martial law is in effect, with a new secret state police in formation, and political activism has become a capital crime. One young police officer, Karl Frick, gets promoted from the criminal division to the new political division. In his first week at his new job, he arrests Johanna Stern, a graduate student seen copying documents in the library. Karl has no idea that Mrs. Stern will become one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, known better as Hannah Arendt. Is Mrs. Stern an innocent who pressed a button on the mimeograph machine at the wrong moment? Or is she an enemy of the state? He can already tell that his first interrogation promises to be his most challenging one.
“The story of Arendt’s arrest and imprisonment and how she first became ‘stateless,’ not widely known, feels especially relevant to re-imagine today,” Bader said. “And the insight and courage she showed then leave us a legacy of wisdom and inspiration.”
“When I first read the play, I was chilled by the ways it resonates with current events,” Kreith said. “How do we respond to the detention of innocent people? What happens when political action becomes criminalized? What do we do when laws are no longer fixed and can be applied retroactively to justify prosecution and persecution?”
Tickets are available for purchase at www.LunaStage.org or by calling 973-395-5551. A limited number of premium opening night tickets are available, which include the post-show party with the cast and creative team. Special events, including pre-show LunaLit book-related events and conversations with guest experts and members of the creative team, are scheduled throughout the run. The full schedule will be posted at www.LunaStage.org.
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