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After nearly two straight years of comic relief, City Lights has been looking for a dose of reality, and they've found it in A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow, which plays Jan. 22 through Feb. 21.
A poor economy has shaped past season lineups to accommodate audiences who needed an excuse to laugh, smile and simply escape their dreary stock portfolios.
"This is our first drama in two years, so it's a bit of a risk," said Amy Himes, the play's director. "We just couldn't resist--it's really a hopeful story of reunion."
Six actors tell the story of a family torn apart during World War II Poland. A father and young daughter escape to the United States just prior to German occupation, leaving behind a mother and older daughter. Some of the story unfolds as many would suspect--the mother disappears in an internment camp, while the daughter grows up in Poland. The audience finds Rose, the younger daughter, living happily in Manhattan.
Eventually, the older sibling, making her way out of an internment camp, comes to stay with her long-lost and Americanized sister. The reunited family is left to reconcile feelings of loss and to learn to accept their pasts.
For those still not ready to face serious drama on the stage, Himes has a few precautionary words.
"It's not political and it's not completely focused on a war-torn Poland," said Himes. "The story really becomes about these individual people and how they are dealing with their own situations."
"A Shayna Maidel" literally translates as "a pretty girl" and describes inner beauty and is an expression of love and of yearning hope.
The cast features City Lights veteran Rachel Martin-Bakker as Lusia, Sonja Starkovich as Rose, and C.D. Feinstein as the stern, traditional Jewish father. The ensemble is completed by Mark Gavartin, Lusia's missing husband, with Lisa Wiseman and Christine Silva as Lusia's mother and best friend who exist only in memories.
"A Shayna Maidel" runs Jan. 22 through Feb. 21, Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $1228. Senior and group discounts are available. City Lights Theater Company is located at 529 S. Second Street in downtown San Jose. Call 408.295.4200 or go to www.cltc.org for additional information.
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