The Fountain Theater
Los Angeles, California 

There were two shockers for me in The Accomplices, which, to be truthful, I almost avoided. I thought, Nazis and the Holocaust – been so thoroughly done. Not so.

Since I was a kid during the Depression when, to Jews especially, Franklin Roosevelt was a god, and since he has always been so sympathetically portrayed (most recently by Kenneth Branaugh in the TV film Warm Springs), to see Roosevelt of the warm “fireside chats” in such a negative light was the first shocker. I knew that he had refused entry to a shipload of refugees, but I had not realized the extent of his anti-Semitism.

The second shock was to realize that during the Holocaust, influential Jews, so eager to preserve their own “acceptance” by the Roosevelt administration, worked against rescuing Jews destined for genocide. (Remember that Gentleman’s Agreement, at that time a startling expose, came out as late as 1947.)

The play is based on the controversial figure Peter Bergson, who fought the administration on behalf of Jews who were being slaughtered by Hitler. Steven Shub’s dynamic, empassioned portrayal of Bergson carries the action. Bergson was the name assumed by Hillel Kook, nephew of the famous Rabbi Kook. Bergson came to the States as a young revolutionary trying to raise a Jewish army to fight for a Jewish state, when he discovered that the Germans were beginning a campaign of genocide. Horrified, he turned his attention and energy to trying to get the administration to change immigration laws which were severely restrictive, trying to gain sanctuary to threatened refugees. He was opposed not only by Roosevelt (an effective performance by James Harper) but by Henry Morganthau (Dennis Gersten) and, most surprising (especially here in L.A.) by Rabbi Steven Wise (Morlan Higgins).

What Steven Shub does so well is to contrast Bergson’s insinuating bombastic assault on the establishment with self-protective, cautious Wise and Morganthau, who were so careful to maintain their own comfortable “acceptance” by the establishment.

Well-played are the roles of Ben Hecht (also Dennis Gersten) (who came to Bergson’s support and helped to organize the marches that led to a public outcry, which ultimately saved a few hundred thousand lives) and Breckenridge Long (Brian Carpenter), who played the “ugly American,” an almost stereotypical role, but he was, in fact, exactly that. Long maneuvered and manipulated his immigration department to keep out the “hoards who would take American jobs.”

This is a fictional interpretation of a true-life situation written by a long-time reporter for The New York Times, Bernard Weinraub. What Steven Shub does so effectively is to contrast Bergson’s outspoken assault on the administration with the pacifying self-protective roles of Morganthau and Rabbi Wise.

Less effective was the romance, which felt rather contrived and out of place in this stirring, fast-moving political drama. Most effective is that The Fountain is an intimate theater, and the audience is closely drawn into the fast-paced action.

Mentioned briefly and not developed is the irony of Bergson’s disappointment returning to Israel, years after saving hundreds of thousands out of six million. And at the end, there is a statement of recognition of countries which, today, hardly attracting attention, are suffering genocide.

All in all, an exciting and enlightening evening of theater.

The Fountain Theater: 5060 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, California (323) 663-1525