by Maya Arad Yasur translated by Eran Edry
seen at the Orange Tree Theatre on 10 October 2019
Matthew Xia directs Daniel Abelson, Fiston Barek, Michal Horowicz and Hara Yannas in a production designed by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen of Amsterdam, a play which explores facets of Jewish consciousness and experience during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and in the present day. The rosy picture of Dutch resistance to Nazi anti-semitism is confounded by individual acts of betrayal; the prevalence of modern anti-semitism is complicated by the possible paranoia of a visiting Israeli violinist as she negotiates living in Amsterdam and coping with an insensitive bureaucracy. The two themes are linked by the fact that Dutch Jews returning to their properties after the Second World War (those that were able to) were presented with utility bills (including gas bills) unpaid in their absence, when these properties had often been used by occupying forces. The Israeli visitor, renting a flat, is presented with a bill plus penalties and interest, amounting to 1700 euros, unpaid for decades by the titular landlady, whom she never meets.
