Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
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Also this issue: There's No Place Like Home Ashes to Ashes Artsbeat The Golden Dreydl Here's to the Ladies Hometown Phavorites Full Speed Ahead Good Boy Network |
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November 27-December 3, 2002
artpicks
The Magic Fire
In Norse legend and in Wagner's The Nibelungen Ring, the Magic Fire is the flaming shield which Wotan, king of the gods, places around his daughter to protect her from harm.
The Magic Fire, a new play by Lillian Groag, is about a family of opera lovers who live in Argentina during the reign of General Juan Perón and adore Wagner's Ring. The Jewish family fled from Austria and Venice because of the Nazi threat, and now they see a new danger.
According to Blanka Zizka, director of The Wilma Theater's production opening this week, the play is "an unusual mix of comedy, coming from the vivacity and colorfulness of the characters, bordering on eccentricity -- and pathos -- born out of the characters' need to take sides or make decisions that have dire consequences. It explores a defining moment in history when shifts in politics challenge how we live our lives, and [questions] if we are capable of an act of heroism in an authoritarian state."
Zizka chose Martin Rayner, who played A.E. Housman in the Wilma's The Invention of Love, to play Otto Berg, the patriarch of the family, and Janis Dardaris as an actress whose outspokenness causes her to fall out of favor with the new regime.
Dec. 4-Jan. 5, call for times, $9 -$41, The Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce sts., 215-546-7824.
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