When Ellen Schoenhammer, Einstein's secretary, steps on stage, she begins talking directly to you. It is then that you realize that you are, as is the rest of the audience, playing the part of "the press" to whom Ellen will speak to for the duration of the play.
Einstein's secretary will, for just over an hour, take you on a memory trip through her 27 years of service to the man whom she calls (I paraphrase) "perhaps the greatest Jew since Jesus."
Ellen's task is to keep "the press" happy while it waits for Professor Einstein to show up for a scheduled conference. With that in mind, the secretary talks non-stop delivering a discourse full of humor and of interesting details about the famous scientist. She ends up providing her own hilarious take on the Theory of Relativity.
The setting is the home in Princeton, New Jersey, where she moved with the Einsteins in 1933. She time-jumps three times - beginning on her ninth year of service to the scientist, moving on to her 17th year with the family, and ending on April 18, 1955 - the day Albert Einstein passed away.
When the play is over you will fancy you know Albert Einstein better. Likewise, you will be in admiration of the type of loyalty and feeling that kept the real secretary, Helene Dukas, administering Einstein's life for almost three decades and his literary affairs until the day of her own death in 1982.
It is an outstanding performance by Los Angeles' actress and playwright Kres Merksy, in this play directed by her husband Paul Gersten, which you should not miss.
The Life and Times of Albert Einstein will play Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7 pm through May 16, 2010. General admission: $18. Premium seating (first four rows): $20. Seniors (65+) and veterans with ID: $15. Current military with ID: $9. Students (25 and under with ID): $5.
Theatre West is located at 3333 Cahuenga Boulevard West, Los Angeles, CA 90068. For more information and to purchase tickets visit http://www.theatrewest.org
Comments