H*TLER’S TASTERS

Making the World Safe for a Totalitarian Dictatorship, One Bite at a Time

Presented by 5^th Wall Theatre in Partnership with Virginia Rep

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: Theatre Gym at Virginia Repertory Center, 114 W. Broad St., RVA 23220

Performances: October 17 – November 2, 2024

Ticket Prices: $30/Adults, $15/Students

Tickets & Info: https://5thwalltheatre.ludus.com or https://www.5thwalltheatre.org/ or email info@5thwalltheatre.org

The 5^th Wall Theatre’s 2024/2025 season is billed as a celebration of empowering stories that inspire change. The “theatre beyond boundaries’” first production of the season, H*tler’s Tasters fulfills this promise on several levels.

This highly triggering tale is based on the true story of the young women who were honored with the dubious patriotic duty of tasting Adolf Hitler’s food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. Somewhere, I think I saw this play described as a comedy, but while there are precious moments of humor between the three young women on stage at any given moment, it is not comedic. Rather, it is the kind of humor that is born of a need to survive by any means necessary. I wouldn’t describe H*tler’s Tasters as a drama, either. No…it’s more of a case study, and a cautionary tale that reminds us that “complacency is a dangerous meal.”

Anachronistic touches make this bitter pill just a bit more palatable. Set in an unknown location in war-torn Germany during the height of the Third Reich, the young women have cell phones and are given to breaking out into bursts of abstract modern dancing. Their cell phones are for recording selfies during their long periods of boredom, and for timing the period after eating. They have one hour after each meal to be observed for symptoms of poisoning. The dancing serves as a stress reliever – for the audience. The actors perform a weird movement ritual three times a day, before each meal. The ritual, one of several movement segments choreographed by Kayla Xavier, is part interpretive dance, part visualization of their inner turmoil, and part religion – in the sense that it represents their only authentic representation of and communication with the truth of their reality.

Each of the young women has a distinct personality. Hilda (Rebecka Russo) is the mean girl. Unable to face reality, she lashes out at the others. “I don’t want to know about truth,” she says, and who can blame her. Liesl (Preston Bradsher) is inquisitive – dangerously so. She wants to know what is going on even if it hurts to know. Anna (Eva Linder) is innocent and asks the wrong questions and speaks too freely. The interaction between Anna and Hilda ends predictably. And then there is Margot (Kylee Márquez-Downie). The closest thing to a breath of fresh air in this psychologically dark world, Margot brings innocence and laughter and dancing into the young women’s bleak world. But the ritual that first stunned us with raw energy gradually dulls until the final performance is decidedly lackluster and uncoordinated.

The ensemble is a tight knit organism that tells the story with a combination of acting, dancing, and non-verbal cues such as glances, body position, posture, and use of space. Longoria, who tells us in the Director’s Note that she has previously spent six years as an actor and producer for this show, directs with a sense of energy and inevitability that is urgent, and manages to somehow suggest that hope never dies.

 H*tler’s Tasters encompasses many important issues that are as relevant today as they were in 1932: the treatment of women and girls; politics; economics; sexuality; sexual assault; the exploitation of women and the poor and immigrants and Jewish people and Black people and anyone who could possibly be seen as “other.” As if this doesn’t sound familiar enough, Hilda says, “Jews cannot replace us,“ and “our lives will be so much better when he makes Germany great again.” Margot innocently shares a vision of the Führer arriving on a beautiful horse, with his shirt off, that

sounds a lot like a photo of another world leader that made the rounds just a few years ago.

Brooks’ play premiered in New York in 2018. She could not possibly have conceived then that H*tler’s Tasters would grow in relevancy rather than fade into the obscurity of historical fiction and artistic archives. It is triggering – so much so that the author did not even spell out the name. It drives home the truth that if we turn our heads when anyone is being exploited, we will inevitably become targets ourselves – if we aren’t already…

This is not the type of play that deserves an answer when someone asks, “did you enjoy it?” It is not meant to be enjoyed. It is meant to be experienced. It is meant to be discussed. It is meant to be absorbed, and it is meant to make better, because when you know better, you must do better.

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Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed From Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here at RTP in August 2024.

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Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks

Directed by Kaitlin Paige Longoria

CAST

Rebecka Russo          ……….           Hilda

Preston Bradsher     ……….           Liesel

Eva Linder                  ……….           Anna

Kylee Marquez-Downie  ….      Margot

Tory Davidson          ……….           u/s Hilda & Margot

Emma Rivet               ……….           u/s Liesel & Anna

PRODUCTION TEAM

Directed by               ……….         Kaitlin Paige Longoria

Choreography by       ……….          Kayla Xavier

Lighting Design by  ……….         Gretta Daughtry

Sound Design by       ……….         Candace Hudert

Costume Design by   ……….         Maggie Ronck & Ashleigh Poteat

Fight Choreography by  ……        Marr Hovastak

Production Associate   …..        Emily Adler

Stage Management by ….        Tariq Karriem

Photos by                  ……….       Tom Topinka

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, October 17, 2024, 7:30 PM | Opening Night

Friday, October 18, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 19, 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 20, 2:30 PM

Thursday, October 24, 7:30 PM

Friday, October 25, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 26, 2024, 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 27, 2024, 2:30 PM | Talkback

Tuesday, October 29, 2024, 7:30 PM | Industry Night | Pay What You Will

Friday, November 1, 2024, 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30PM | Closing Night

Tickets: $30/Adult; $15/Student

Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Content Warning: This production contains mature themes and potentially sensitive or controversial content, including discussions of sexual assault, politics, war, and race. Viewer discretion is advised.