Still More Theater Saturday - A Will to Live

We were given complimentary tickets to A Will to Live for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: A Will to Live

Where: Chain Theatre

             312 W. 36th St.

             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for  Ages 15 and Up

When: FINAL PERFORMANCE TONIGHT AT 7:00 PM

A Will to Live is the true story of Helena Wienrauch, a survivor of not one but three concentration camps.  Although at 2 1/4 hours, the show is long for a one-person show, it is quite riveting and it will hold your attention throughout. Although the story is, of course, quite dark, Helena's perseverance through everything she lived through is quite inspirational.

Masha King's performance in the role of Helena is also quite inspirational. Not only does she have to age from a young teenager to a much older woman over the course of the show, but she also has to vicariously live through a multitude of horrifying events as well as recite pages and pages of dialogue as she is not only reenacting Helena's story but narrating it as she goes along as well. It's an amazing tour de force of a performance.

Although the ending of the story is uplifting and inspirational in the way that Helena was able to survive and thrive even after all the horror she experienced under the Nazi regime,  of course, the majority of the story is dark and disturbing which may trigger some people. However, it is important that stories like these be told so that we never forget the extreme cruelty that people can inflict on one another when feelings of hatred and otherness are allowed to run rampant. We need to be constantly reminded to strive to make the world a better place where things like this are not allowed to occur. On that note, we were pleased to see a class of New York City high school kids attending the performance. We are proud to live in an area of the country where all history is taught no matter how unpleasant so that we may learn from the mistakes of the past instead of letting hatred and otherness fester under the surface and increasing the likeliness that the mistakes of the past will be repeated.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: 

All A Will to Live production and other photos by David Zayas Jr.

Images used in this post have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms.
If there is a problem with the rights to any image, please contact us here, and we will look into the matter.