Theatre Review: H*tler’s Tasters

Rogue Machine Introduces L.A.’s First Run of H*tler’s Tasters. Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks. Directed by Sarah Norris. Produced by Guillermo Cienfuegos and Lexi Sloan.
A Rogue Machine Production.

Based on Margot Wölk‘s account, H*tler’s Tasters is the little-known story of the girls used by Hitler to taste his food. Afraid to be poisoned, he recruited young girls of good German stock to try the same food he was about to eat. During a time of famine in Germany, eating three times a day wasn’t that bad after all. But at what cost?

Hilda (Olivia Gill), Anna (Ali Axelrad), and Liesel (Paige Simunovich) are inside a room waiting for the food to arrive. To fight boredom, they take selfies, sing, and talk about the guards. For Playwright Michelle Kholos Brooks, the use of cell phones is a way to make these characters feel more present.

Hitler was vegetarian, so the girls didn’t eat meat, an apparent benefit for their weight control. Brooks incorporates other elements to connect the characters to their function. For many women, their relationship with food is complicated, especially for the younger crowd. Food is a basic impulse, but due to the relationship with weight control and consequently with their looks, it becomes emotional. For the characters in Brooks’ story, eating vegetables with rice and pasta is not only a devoted service to the Reich but also a benefit to their health. But again, that relationship is complicated, so the girls also crave meat.

The stress is not only related to the fact that one meal could be the last one. There are many more things in the story that reflect German society during the Third Reich. Anna for example, talks about her relationship with a Jewish family, something with which Hilda takes issue. As a result of the divisive environment and the narrative of a superior Aryan race imprinted in the Nuremberg Race Law, a relationship with a Jew was seen as a betrayal. According to the Nazis, those relationships were suspicious. That created a web of informants that turned people in to the Gestapo for questioning, torture, imprisonment, and maybe even death. In the play, Anna’s fate becomes an open question.

Even though there are very little historical details about the real life tasters, Brooks gives a face to those girls. They each have a unique background and personality. Hilda is the daughter of an officer and she is the staunchest supporter of the Reich. Anna was used by a soldier for sex and to be recruited as a taster. Liesel has a relative that moved to Pittsburgh and tells her about American movies. And then there’s Margot (Caitlin Zambito), a girl who thinks she was recruited to work as a typist. She’s upbeat and replaces Anna. All of the characters show their admiration to Hitler and even fantasize about a relationship with him. Eventually, however, reality sets in.

The acting is on point. The actresses do a great job delivering their lines convincingly. Zambito gives a shot at another interesting role (she also did a fantastic job in The Thin Place) and creates a character with hopes and joyfulness typical of a young girl that ends up succumbing to the institutionalization of her mind and body.

With talented actresses and an intriguing subject matter, Director Sarah Norris delivers an entertaining production that blends drama, music, and comedy. The choice of stage goes well with the subject as well. It’s intimate and claustrophobic, reflecting the nerve-wracking ambient in which the girls wait for the next meal that could be the last one, every single time.

H*tler’s Tasters

Rogue Machine (Upstairs at the Henry Murray Stage in the Matrix Theatre)
7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

April 27, 2024 – June 3, 2024

8pm Fridays, Mondays; 5pm Saturdays; 7pm Sundays
(no performances on Monday, April 29, May 13)

Ticketsroguemachinetheatre.org

Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks. Directed by Sarah Norris. Produced by Guillermo Cienfuegos and Lexi Sloan.
A Rogue Machine Production.

Cast: Ali Axelrad (Anna), Olivia Gill (Hilda), Paige Simunovich (Liesel), Caitlin Zambito
(Margot).

Creative team: Joe McClean and Dane Bowman (Scenic & Lighting Design), Ashleigh Poteat (Costume Design), Christine Cover Ferro (Costume coordinator), Chris Moscatiello (Sound consultant), Carsen Joenk (Sound Design), Ashlee Wasmund (Choreographer), Emmy Frevele (Choreography for Rogue Machine).

Theatre Review: A Great Wilderness

Rogue Machine presents A Great Wilderness, written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Elina de Santos.

Walt (John Perrin Flynn) has spent his life in a retreat in the wilderness, counseling young men who are sent to his retreat to get cured of their homosexuality. The idea is that through a faith-based approach—prayers, Bible readings, and counseling—these men will change and go back to a heterosexual lifestyle. Walt is getting old with early signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s and his ex-wife Abby (Rachel Sorsa), concern about his well-being, wants to send him to Shady Gardens, a retirement home. When Abby and her other ex-husband, Tim (Tony Pasqualini) come to the retreat to visit, they found out that Walt has taken one last youngster, Daniel (Jeffrey Delfin), for his gay conversion therapy. Daniel, however, decides to go out for a walk by himself and goes missing.

Tim, who used to be a counselor in the retreat, goes out to look for Daniel. As time goes by, Walt calls Janet (Tania Verafield), a park ranger, to help in the search. Eventually, Eunice (Jacquelin Lorraine SchofieldRapunzel Alone), Daniel’s mom, is notified of the situation. When she arrives, she feels guilty for sending Daniel to the retreat. Janet organizes a group of people to extend the search. A helicopter is added to the search mission. Hours pass and still no news of Daniel. A fire breaks out in the forest and the drama intensifies as Janet finds Daniel’s jacket with blood stains. 

Playwright Samuel D. Hunter shows the gay conversion therapy from the eyes of a Christian group that believes in the effectiveness of such practice. But once the characters reveal their struggles and past experiences, the effects of trying to change someone’s attraction to their own sex become more disturbing and less convincing. The play does not try to tell who’s right or wrong, that’s up to the audience, but the facts are laid out for the pendulum to go either way and not to hyperfocus on just one side of the story. The sincerity and the tragic consequences of conservative beliefs that make up a portion of the cultural and religious fabric of America are explored in this story and are perfectly reflected on Walt’s own existential crisis.

Director Elina de Santos‘ interpretation of Walt and Tim’s relationship can make an interesting conversation. Tim is one of the founders of the retreat and is also Abby’s ex-husband. Walt was also married to Abby at one point. Walt and Tim being both counselors of conversion therapy opens up a series of questions that make this play even more intriguing. 

Set Designer Bruce Goodrich, Sound Designer Chris Moscatiello, and Lighting Designer Vicki J. Scott do an excellent job recreating the retreat and the ambiance; the set is full of details and the background sounds of the forest make the story come closer to the audience.           

A Great Wilderness is an accurate reflection of the complexities faced by conservative America, where the interpretation of Christian values might offer more questions that answers.          

A Great Wilderness

Written by Samuel D. Hunter. Directed by Elina de Santos. Cast: Jeffrey Delfin, John Perrin Flynn, Tony Pasqualini, Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield, Rachel Sorsa, and Tania Verafield. Creative team: Bruce Goodrich (Set Design), Chris Moscatiello (Sound Design), Elizabeth A. Cox (Costume Design), Vicki J. Scott (Lighting Design), Anna Khaja (Shady Gardens Spokesperson/Voice). Produced by: Guillermo Cienfuegos, and Rebecca Larsen (A Rogue Machine Production).

ROGUE MACHINE (in the Matrix Theatre)
7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Opening 8pm on Saturday, September 24
Schedule: 8pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays; 3pm Sundays
Added performance on Thursday, October 20
(No performance October 10)
Closing: October 31, 2022

Tickets: roguemachinetheatre