The ultimate story of horror and hope
The best-selling memoir The Happiest Man On Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor, captured hearts across the globe when it was published in 2020. Written by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku about his time during, before and after WW2, this story uses the atrocities he experienced to drive home a message of hope and kindness.
This play, written by Mark St Germain, aims to capture the same honest tone and impart the same powerful message as the original book. All the stagecraft for this production works together seamlessly, with excellent lighting by Harold Burgess and sound design by Brendan Aanes. Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, this one-man show achieves everything it sets out to and more.
At the heart of this play is Kenneth Tigar, the actor taking on the mammoth role of Eddie Jaku. Informally beginning the show with a casual, lights up chat with the audience, we are set up as Eddies ‘friends’, to help him work up the courage to speak at his local synagogue.
He then begins his life story, which is riveting enough to grip the audience completely from start to finish, despite its length. Recounting his experiences of the Holocaust in chronological order, his many near escapes have the audience at the edge of their seats.
A combination of luck, ingenuity, hard work and friendship allow Eddie to survive the Holocaust, but it is his mentality in the years that follow that allows him to do more than just survive, but to be happy. The message of loving everyone as though they were family is conveyed beautifully by Tigar, with not a dry eye in the house at the show’s conclusion.
Tigar treats the material with respect, as if it were the story of his own life he was telling. Transforming into Nazi’s and miming moments of connection, he uses nothing to perform this monologue but himself. The bare staging by James Noone allows him space to inhabit this character and this world, leaving nothing to distract us from what we are witnessing.
St Germain’s adaptation is masterful, compressing this mammoth story into just 90 minutes in a way that feels breathless but never rushed. Injecting the play with humour prevents the story from becoming too one-note, while leading us to the final message of the importance of friendship and kindness.
It is the book brought to life, with the added relevancy of the disturbing 2024 news cycle making this play even more powerful.