Primo Critique

From Primo's original writing, to the translation of the book Survival in Auschwitz, it is inevitable that many original meanings have been lost. In fact, it will be nearly impossible to recreate the atrocities of the holocaust to the fullest. Anthony Sher, however, successfully created a vivid image to the viewers of his monologue with the least amount of props and utilities. Despite the fact Anthony's play being a monologue, he creatively used the ligting, stage, music, and position to create the most out of his monologue letting the viewers thrive through the world of their own imagination of the holocaust. In my opinion, Anthony Sher was very successful in creating the original mood and imagery of what Primo had portrayed in his original writings.
The simplistic look of his overall during the play was pretty unexpected for me. I anticipated the actor to be in dirty striped clothes, like many other stage productions use to recreate the sense of feeling of the play. Anthony simply dressed in cardigans, pants, and spectacles, he somewhat looks professional, and neutral. By listening to his tone, we can realize that even though these events were being recalled after many years, it haunted him like a nightmare. At the beginning of the play, his voice seemed to be hesitant of continuing on his memories, and he had problems finding the adequate words to describe his experiences. Anthony's speaking skills were amazing since he was able to grasp the viewers attention while he kept his delicate balance on stage without making any big gestures. By pausing for a moment at certain phrases, and by talking in a tone of reluctance and fear, he was able to become Primo himself telling the accounts like he actually was a frist hand experiencer. While other productions put tones that would beg for pitty in purpose, the monologue that Anthony performed was perfectly expressionalin a theatrical form.
As stated before, this production used limited resources of props, sound effects, music, and setting utilities. With limited resources, however, the production was successful in leaving the imagination of the atrocities to the viewers. Other productions like movies that were made in Hollywood may have been successful at recreating the scenery of hell in Auschwitz, but it is inevitable that no techonoly or no special effects would bring back the actual scenery in Auschwitz. Like the common saying that our imagination is the greatest tool, this production tried their hardest to leave all the detailed information and scenery to the viewers. The grey setting of the room helped readers sense the fear and dark memories that Anthony was reciting. By using small sound effects like the closing of doors and the sound bells, they were able aid viewers in their imagination. The lighting also accentuated the sense of hope or despair that Primo felt in the concentration camp. While dark lighting was used at the first part of the monologue while Anthony was describing the hopelesness he felt in the camp, brighter lighting was used as time passed and Anthony seemed to regain hop for survival. The music that played in the scene where it showed Primo's friendship with a fellow Italian gave a far more sentimental feeling that the book could have given. It was clearly shown in these scene that even though words were a strong device to evoke emotion, that music was also another strong tool to help evoke the emotion even stronger.
A vital stage prop that was used in this production was the chair. During the most part of the monologue, Anthony paces around looking as if he was nervous. Bringing back the memories of Auschwitz was obviously disturbing, and the memories of Auschwitz was one of the reason why he stood for the most of the time. Selections, taking showers, and working tireless hours were all activities that required standing up on both foot. For Primo, standing up and walking was also a part of survival that they had to continue even though they were fatigued even to the point of death sometimes. The chair, however, gives off a sense of relief and rest. Sitting in a chair ment bending his knees, which was probably a rare experience in Auschwitz. The fact that he was actually able to rest (mostly in the Ka-be) and break off from all the gruesome work was very significant in this production. Contrary to the fact that the chair was a symbol of rest, it was also a burden to Primo. It seemed that when Anthony sat on the chair, he was relieved and nostalgic at the same time. It clearly showed the viewers that sitting in the chair helped him remember that he was once a free man, making the beautiful memories unbearable in "hell."
Though actions were limited in this production, there were certain scenes where Anthony posed a few actions that weren't actually great in the sense of acting that were so powerful in meaning.
At one scene, Primo takes out a handkerchief and wipes his forehead saying, "imagine everything being stripped away from you, even a handkerchief." Anthony's action of wiping his forhead may not be significant at all, but with this quote, a handkerchief seemed so big. With this simplistic action, he perfectly described being stripped away of everything he had including his humanity.
In conclusion, I thought that the monologue of Anthony Sher was a production that successfully lead the readers stretch their imaginations. While many plays or movies seem to block the imagination of the viewers by specific details of setting, lighting, music, and much more, Anthony Sher and the production team explained everything that was necessary, in the most simplistic and efficient way. Even though many meanings were lost from the original writing of Primo to the book "Survival In Auschwitz," the play emphasized specific parts that lost it's meaning from the translation, and accentuated many emotional moods than the book did.