Leopoldstadt – B

A deeply personal play–and he wants you to know it–by Tom Stoppard, an apologia for not knowing until late in life that he is (100%) Jewish and most of his family died in and around the Holocaust. By honoring so many of his ancestors he assembles a cast of characters that challenges the audience’s understanding (“Aunt! – Why no, she’s my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law”), at the expense of identifying deeply with anyone. In fact, I found the play a much better read than a performance. Except for the two British imports (Gretl and Fritz/Leo), the actors disappointed. It felt they were reciting their lines, not inhabiting them, and the ensemble never flowed. (The child actors didn’t help.) I wonder if sitting in the third row hurt. There is drama and emotion, but some of it comes from the Holocaust, more than Stoppard.