LAFPI

Tectonic Theatre Project’s Here There Are Blueberries

Written by Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich

Conceived & Directed by Moisés Kaufman

Playing at  the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for 17 Performances Only!  March 13 to 30 (opening night March 14). Tickets are at TheWallis.Org.

In Here There Are Blueberries, a mysterious album featuring Nazi-era photographs arrives at the desk of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archivist Rebecca Erbelding.  As Rebecca and her team of historians begin to unravel the shocking story behind the images, the album soon makes headlines around the world and ignites a debate that reverberates far beyond the museum walls. Based on real events, Here There Are Blueberries tells the story behind these historical photographs—what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust and, ultimately, about our own humanity.

About Here There Are Blueberries 

Here There Are Blueberries was named a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, is the focus of a top-rated CBS “60 Minutes” piece by Anderson Cooper, and became the highest-grossing production in the 45 year history of New York Theatre Workshop during its celebrated limited engagement.  The current international tour includes engagements in London and Germany.

The cast in Los Angeles includes Scott Barrow, Nemuna Ceesay, Delia Cunningham, Luke Forbes, Barbara Pitts, Jeanne Sakata, Marrick Smith, Grant James Varjas, Anna Shafer and Sam Reeder.

Performances March 13 to 27, 2025.

Opening Night is Friday, March 14
Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays at 7:30 pm
Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday March 16 at 7:00 pm; Sundays March 23 and 30 at 2:00 pm

More Info: TheWallis.Org.

FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics), Holocaust Museum LA, and Simon Wiesenthal Center have collaborated to create an series of Performance Extras for the engagement.

These Performance Extras begin March 14 with an Opening Night Party sponsored by LA Arts Online for the entire audience. On March 15, a post-performance conversation is held with playwright, conceiver and director Moisés Kaufman and playwright Amanda Gronich.  They will talk about the eight year journey of how they made this play from an album of photographs.  Following the March 26th performance, the discussion is with descendants of survivors and Nazi officials organized with Holocaust Museum LA, The Wallis season creative partner.  Participants include Audrey Stimson and Jordanna Gessler.  The Simon Wiesenthal Center is The Wallis community partner.  Five more post-performance discussions organized by FASPE are during the run.

Here There Are Blueberries is produced by Tectonic Theater Project in partnership with Brian and Dayna Lee and Sonia Friedman Productions.” The Wallis and Tectonic have partnered with the FASPE, the production’s Content & Conversation partner, to curate this series of post-show discussions with leading ethicists and scholars to discuss the complex issues raised in the play—and consider their relevance for today.  These discussions provide a unique historical lens to study contemporary ethics.

About FASPE Post Performance Discussions

After the show on March 20^th, the topic is What can we learn about ourselves from the professionals in and around Nazi Germany.  The lawyers, doctors, business executives, clergy, engineers, journalists, and other professionals designed, enabled, and executed the policies of National Socialism. Panelist is David Goldman, Chair, FASPE.

Following the March 21evening performance, the topic is How Do We Deal with the Sins of Our Fathers?  How can seemingly normal people commit horrific acts during weekdays and enjoy family and professional relaxation on weekends?  Can evil be compartmentalized? Could the Kommandant of Auschwitz have been a good father to his children—who lived in a comfortable villa a short distance from their father’s office at Auschwitz?

After the March 22 matinee the topic is Why Continue to Study the Holocaust? Auschwitz was liberated 80 years ago; there have been further genocides since 1945.   The Holocaust remain a larger part of contemporary pedagogy, literature, ethics and more; what is the role of Holocaust study in a post-survivor world?  Panelists: David Goldman, Chairman, FASPE, Helen I. Bendix, Associate Justice, Division One, Second District Court of Appeal, and Danijel Skrelja, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Los Angeles.

The March 22 evening, continues this discussion with The Transformation of Norms and Complicity as the New Normal. In the 1930s and 1940s, German society experienced a gradual, comprehensive, ever-accelerating transformation of its system of ethical and moral values. Their role is central to the play, and raises pressing questions about contemporary professional ethics.  Panelist: Thorsten Wagner, Executive Director for Academics, FASPE

FASPE was piloted in 2009 and has over 900 Alumni across the globe. Each year, FASPE awards 80-90 fellowships to graduate students in business, clergy, journalism, law, medicine, and design & technology to spend two weeks in Germany and Poland, visiting Auschwitz and key sites, examining the roles their counterparts played in Nazi Germany and explore the ethical issues in their fields today.  www.faspe-ethics.org