Review: MEMORIAM at Main Street Theater

MEMORIAM is a haunting sci-fi drama that has its world premiere currently at Main Street Theater in its Rice Village location and will run through April 19th. Like all truly wonderful science fiction, it mines both heart and mind to meditate on technology and its interactions with humans. It asks hard questions about legacies, memories, and political touchpoints that create entire cultural identities. This show is not to be missed if you are a fan of intellectual drama and smart techno noir. MEMORIAM is exquisitely written, brilliantly acted and staged with precision and passion. This is the kind of thing that Main Street Theater does best, and it is the second world premiere in a row that feels like an important new voice in the art is rising. This time, it is self-described "neurodivergent Israeli writer/producer based in London" Noga Flaishon, who dazzles. MEMORIAM is a stunning experience that both intrigues and ignites. 

---

A question always hovering around technology boils down to, “Just because we can do something, should we do it?” In this play, MEMORIAM is a company that has figured out how to digitize memories so that users and subscribers can feel exactly what other folks have been through. Want to feel the dopamine rush of a true love proposing or the birth of a first baby? MEMORIAM has you covered. Rachel is a top buyer of “assets” for the company, and they have just revealed the memory they would like to purchase most belongs to her grandmother. You see, this woman is the last survivor left of the Holocaust. Rachel accepts the assignment to negotiate the buying and selling of her ancestor’s memories, but her brother protests, saying it is something that ought not to be out in the world. And so the debates begin about our debt to history, who memory truly belongs to, and how we handle seeing humanity at its worst. And underneath all this, what does this all mean to the family impacted so closely by it? 

Noga Flaishon’s script achieves the impossible and makes the audience look not at the how of technology but more at the why. She deftly inserts commentary on generational trauma and how it impacts all of us. This is not just a nifty trick to talk about digital recreation of thought but a way to analyze the legacy of the Holocaust and what it means to Jewish people and the world. Should the true horror die with survivors, and what do we owe to humanity to keep their memories alive? And what does all of this signify to a grandmother and her grandchildren? The political becomes frighteningly personal in MEMORIAM. It’s a very smart script that commands attention immediately and delivers on every emotional level you can imagine. 

The cast is up to the herculean task of asking about impossible things. The luminous Julia Krohn does the heavy lifting as Rachel, and she navigates the professional and the personal with grace and gives a grounded performance that carries the entire show. If she seems to have a ton of chemistry with her onstage grandmother, it is simply because actress Chesley Ann Santoro is her biological real-life mom. MEMORIAM marks their first collaboration onstage together. Chesley’s portrayal of Rivka hits all the right notes of grit and determination that would come with a survivor. The two women playing opposite each other are beautifully intimate and a wonder to watch. Dain Geist is the brother, and he certainly matches the other two in intensity and conviction that his side is the right one. Dillon Dewitt appears as a soul-less corporate lackey and does an awesome job of doling out slick and condescending. Sammi Sicinski creates a desperate-for-money mother selling her memories and makes us care for her in short order. Julia Oppenheim is the director here, and she keeps the tension alive in the cast and throughout the proceedings beautifully. 

Main Street Theater produces the heck out of everything as well. What could go south easily are projections on a circular screen up near the ceiling of the theater that shows the filmed versions of these “memories” the company is extracting. Amelia Rico does wonders with the visual video tone poems that represent MEMORIAM’s memories for purchase. Her work inserts a cinematic quality that is as wonderfully important as any performance onstage. Lee O Barker’s set design, in tandem with Rodney Walsworth’s props, creates a futuristic and sleek world that is nubile and only needs small tweaks to go from location to location. Donna Southern Schmidt clothes everyone in fitted modern takes on office and casual wear. 

This show is an amazing achievement where the right script, cast, and creative team come together to produce something unique and visionary. MEMORIAM is a blend of the best of all the theatrical arts combined and sparks a fiery storm of emotions. On opening night, one audience member was openly weeping by the end of act one, and there was a hush over every single person during intermission, which signaled that this work had a mesmerizing hold on all in attendance. I can’t explain how deeply MEMORIAM made me think or how easily it shook my core. Noga Flaishon is a writer to watch because something tells me she can see the future. 

MEMORIAM plays through April 19th at Main Street Theater’s Rice Village location. Be aware of parking around the facility, as Rice Village is a combination of paid and complimentary parking often designated to specific businesses. There are many restaurants within walking distance. The show runs approximately two hours with a fifteen-minute intermission between acts. Main Street Theater has a small bar with light snacks for patrons. 

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.