LENI at Bridge Street Theatre

Bridge Street Theatre presents
The Regional Premiere of
LENI
by Sarah Greenman
with Roxanne Fay and Olivia Howell
Directed & Designed by John Sowle
Costumes by Michelle Rogers
Sound by Carmen Borgia

Bridge Street Theatre Mainstage
44 West Bridge Street, Catskill, NY

Thursday May 17 @ 7:30pm ("Pay What You Will" preview)
Friday May 18 @ 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Saturday May 19 @ 7:30pm
Sunday May 20 @ 2:00pm ("Pay What You Will" performance)
Thursday May 24 @ 7:30pm
Friday May 25 @ 7:30pm
Saturday May 26 @ 7:30pm
Sunday May 27 @ 2:00pm (Closing Performance)

Arrive 1/2 hour before curtain time for an informative talk by Bridge Street Theatre's Dramaturg, Steven Patterson.

Bridge Street’s “Leni” Delves Into the Life of Controversial Filmmaker Leni RiefenstahlWhat happens to artists when they allow themselves – knowingly or unknowingly – to become cogs in a propaganda machine? This and other fascinating and complex moral and ethical issues are explored in the second production in Bridge Street Theatre’s five-play 2018 Subscription Series – Sarah Greenman’s “Leni”. Using the life of Hitler’s chosen filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl as a springboard, this is a searing examination of narcissism, denial, and artistic responsibility.

In a limbo resembling a semi-abandoned soundstage, Helene (the aged Leni Riefenstahl) hovers in a dream somewhere between life and death. There, she encounters Leni (her youthful self) and is forced to confront the moral implications of the works she created and the ways in which those works helped to empower a fascist regime. Was she complicit or merely an artist attempting to create the finest films of which she was capable, blinding herself to their implications and to the evils of the party that engineered their creation? Together, the two Lenis (who are really one) attempt to create one final film that will justify both their work and their life. To what extent are we responsible for decisions we make as younger people without the knowledge of hindsight? And to what extent does the world have the right to pass judgement on us for those decisions? “Leni” asks these questions in a stimulating, entertaining, and thought-provoking fashion, certain to inspire hours of discussion and debate.

As with another morally-conflicted film auteur, D.W. Griffith (“Birth of a Nation), Riefenstahl’s genius as a filmmaker has rarely been questioned, even by critics who despise the ideology to which she lent it. Pauline Kael, film critic for The New Yorker, called “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” the two greatest films ever directed by a woman. Her contribution to the art form is undeniable, as are the technical innovations she introduced. Yet equally notable is her contribution to ‘greasing the wheels’ for the ascension of the Nazi Party. She is definitely a character against whom outright ‘black or white’ judgement is not easy and Sarah Greenman’s play portrays her ‘warts and all’, letting audiences to draw their own conclusions.