The show may not be a long one (just over two hours including intermission) but it takes a lot of energy and focus to perform.  I’m glad it’s not a three-hour epic!  Darren has pointed out more than once that holding as much tension in our bodies as we do takes a lot out of us.  I’m glad this weekend and last we’ve avoided the five-show weekend: Friday night, two on Saturday and two on Sunday.  Next weekend we close out the run with five shows in forty-nine hours.  At least we know it’s the final push.

The talkbacks continue to be impressively attended and thoughtful discussions always occur.  At this point we’ve attended enough of them to be able to speak coherently and succinctly to most questions.  The variety of reactions to the show is amazing; people bring such different perspectives to the actions and words of the play, seeing completely different sides of the moral questions of the play.

And we’ve offended more than a few people as well.  Many of those whom we’ve offended, I believe, are looking for a clear-cut hero of the piece, and I think one of the strengths of The Good German is that the characters are real, flawed human beings, who don’t fit into typical melodramatic stereotypes.  Others who react powerfully and negatively to the piece, I believe, aren’t able to ask themselves one of two important questions: How are the events and situations of the play similar to, and how are they different from, those of the present day?  If we are ever to learn from the events of the past, we have to understand both the parallels and contradictions to our current time, or else we blind ourselves to the whole truth.