Known
for their commitment to quality, contemporary theatre, Tamarama Rock Surfers once
again don’t disappoint with their latest offering Address Unknown, currently playing at Bondi Pavillion Theatre.
First
published as a short story in 1938 and set in 1932, Address Unknown by Katherine Kressman Taylor spans San Francisco to
Germany and chronicles the relationship between two German business partners
via their letters to each other. German born Martin Schulse (Patrick Dickson) communicates
details of his return to Europe and his reconnection with his homeland to Max
Eisenstein (John O’Hare), a German Jew still residing in the USA. As details of
Martin’s increasing sympathy for the National Socialists becomes evident via
his written word, cracks begin to form in the once strong relationship between
the two men.
Through
details of Martin’s sympathies for Germany’s new order and Max’s inability to
comprehend the regime, the once shared ideologies of the two friends become
increasingly different and the warmth between them changes to thinly concealed
distrust and ultimately hate at dramatic speed. The underlying racist sentiment
and the frightening human ability to inflict unspeakable harm on each other - even
those we once called friends - are themes that are disturbingly relevant today.
