Review: The Beams Are Creaking
by Michael Bundschuh
“Germany, 1933: The Nazi party has taken power. In the face of the greatest evil of the 20th century, Dietrich Bonhoeffer battles questions of morality, political allegiance and religious conviction…”
http://taproottheatre.org/the-beams-are-creaking/
I just saw this play last week, and you should see it too…
For most Americans, WWII is the last war which was clearly good versus evil. I have always found this period of history both fascinating and disturbing. Germans cast off the yoke of WWI to rise again and threaten the lives of people who were not part of the master race – Jews, Gypsies, Gays– whomever they felt was undesirable. America rides in on a white horse to help the allies to push back the Axis threat.
However, this is not a tale of Americans riding to the rescue. Instead, this is the relatively untold story about a religious German who does not agree with the Fuehrer and decides to fight against the war as best he can.
Enter Dietrich, our erstwhile young priestly hero freshly returned from America where he has seen black/white segregation with his own eyes. He sees the rising power of Hitler, and its grating effect on his own religious beliefs that man is good and equal in the eyes of God.
The first half of the play is spent discussing ways of halting Hitler, of stopping Hitler’s rising popularity based on condemning those who do not belong to the master race. In this I think the play falters, since I don’t think it explores the depths necessary to explain why a priest would be driven to condone murder, even for such an obvious candidate such as Hitler.
However, the play redeems itself in the second half. Dietrich is arrested and sent to prison, and his days blur as the months of captivity go by. But even here he keeps his faith and his conviction of doing the right thing in the name of God. His beliefs and sincerity rub off on his German jailors, who reveal themselves as normal folk who are also trying to survive the insanity of the times.
At this point I don’t want to reveal anything more since you should see and experience the play on your own. However, seeing the Nazi Resistance story told from a religious background is a direction I have not seen before, and I’m sure you will enjoy learning about it like I did. Enjoy…
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