First off I saw this incredible Play by Tom Stoppard in previews on Broadway so it might not have been the final Version.
Leopoldstadt tells the story of multiple generations of a Jewish family living in Vienna from 1899-1955 dealing with antisemitism ranging from times where Jews had some more rights than other times and were able to prosper and the times leading up to and through the holocaust and the aftermath.
The topics handled in this play are heavy but the entire cast does an incredible job with the play.
This show has a large cast and some cast members play their character across multiple ages and some actors even play different characters based on the time period the sceane is based in, Brandon Uranowitz and Davis Krumholtz were the standouts for me but everyone was absolutely incredible, the writing the pacing, humor, chemistry and the flip-flop between light and heavy topics were incredible.
There were multiple themes and story elements that really stood out to me the largest being the Jewish character that converted to Christianity thinking he would be able to attain better social status and while that worked for a time as world war 2 drew closer he started to realize and when the war started he completely acknowledged that no matter what he is still a Jew and will be treated as such, some smaller ones where the need for the Jewish homeland to be in Jewish hands, no matter what path a Jew takes or their religious level they are still a Jew and finally that no matter how safe and secure a Jew feels in the world there are always people that want us whipped off the face of the earth.
By far the most powerful scene was the end where 3 surviving members of the family reunite in Vienna after the holocaust one who went through the camps and watched his family die, one who lived in America powerless to help her family no matter how hard she tried and one who lived in England and barley remembers his family and his short time in Vienna. Their discussing their experiences and memories in contrast on one another was extremely moving.
All in all this was an extremely powerful and emotional play with incredible performances and if you live in New York I highly recommend seeing in for yourself!
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