A Riveting New Broadway Docudrama: ‘Here There Are Blueberries’

A photo album from 2007 belonging to Karl Höcker, a Nazi SS guard at Auschwitz, was given to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. During the period between 1944 and the camp’s liberation in 1945, the album exposed photographs of SS personnel and their families. These photos showed them enjoying leisure activities near the gas chambers and crematoria where countless Jews perished, many transported from Hungary. Not a single prisoner appears in these pictures; their absence is glaring. The scenes are not of typical Nazi rallies or acts of debauchery familiar from films. Instead, they depict family Christmas parties and colleagues enjoying time off work, including staffers eating blueberries, hence the title of the Broadway piece ‘Here There Are Blueberries’ by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich.

This Broadway production uses a cast of eight to narrate the museum’s processing of this haunting find. Presented by the Tectonic Theater Project, known for its research-driven shows, this 90-minute piece delves into the significance of the photos by consulting individuals related to those captured in them. Kaufman’s 35-year-old theater group brings this impact to audiences with meticulous attention to detail. Although this isn’t a cheerful Broadway experience, it’s compelling and likely to stay with viewers long after the curtain falls. The term ‘unsettling’ aptly describes this performance.

The show examines two key aspects. The first is the puzzling capacity of humans to separate their personal lives from their roles in the Holocaust. As you watch, questions arise about how these staffers could maintain normalcy while working in a place of death. This theme is reminiscent of Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 film ‘The Zone of Interest,’ centering on Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, who managed a seemingly normal family life amid the horrors.

The performance follows an archivist, played by Delia Cunningham, grappling alongside her superior, Kathleen Chalfant, to comprehend this contradiction. However, the play extends its inquiry. A profound realization emerges: these individuals, including teenage assistants from the Bund Deutscher Mädel, were deeply committed to Nazi ideology. They knew the atrocities surrounding them.

Conrad Ricamora portrays German Tilman Taube, whose grandfather appears in the photos, highlighting how many functionaries of Auschwitz escaped judgment. These individuals, including young telephonists and secretaries, blended into post-war society. Michael Cerveris discusses Peter Wirths, a child who grew up in Auschwitz, the son of its chief doctor.

Upon leaving, audiences may realize Auschwitz’s enormity and sinister complexity. The play notes the initial hesitance of the Holocaust Museum to highlight the album due to its focus on prisoners. The museum then acknowledged its potent role in victim remembrance. A separate production will show at Northlight Theatre in Chicago next April.

For more information, visit the Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St., New York or the official website.