INTERVIEW: ‘Here There Are Blueberries’ is a new play based on real events
Photo: From left, Nemuna Ceesay, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Kathleen Chalfant and Erika Rose star in Here There Are Blueberries at New York Theatre Workshop. Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy / Provided by Print Shop PR with permission.
Here There Are Blueberries is a captivating new play currently running at New York Theatre Workshop in Downtown Manhattan. The production comes to New York City courtesy of the Tectonic Theater Project and conceiver / director Moisés Kaufman. The show centers on the real-life story of an album of Nazi-era photographs that came into the hands of an archivist with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to press notes. During the research process to better understand these images, debates started to erupt about their provenance and the images they display.
At the center of the new play, which runs through June 30, is Nemuna Ceesay, who plays the character of Charlotte Schünzel and others. She’s joined on stage by Scott Barrow, Kathleen Chalfant, Noah Keyishian, Jonathan Raviv, Erika Rose, Anna Shafer, Elizabeth Stahlmann, Charlie Thurston and Grant James Varjas.
Recently Ceesay exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox about this topical piece of theater and what it has been like working with this theater company and this ensemble. She has been with the play since its premiere at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and was previously seen in Broadway’s A Strange Loop, among many other productions in New York City.
Were you familiar with these photographs and this news story before signing on to this project?
I had never heard of the Höcker album before I received the audition for Here There Are Blueberries. As I read the script, I got to have the experience that many audience members have when they watch the show — it’s a detective story, and I got to be along for the ride. As the archivists in the story shared new details, I was swept up in what would come next and found myself gasping at the reveals. The journey I went on reading the script was a major reason I wanted to be a part of this project.
When you read the script, could you envision what the writers were going for? Or did it take rehearsals to really see the show on its feet?
It’s hard to understand what this show is until you see all the technical elements. When I read the script, I understood what the journey of the archivists was — is this album important? Who does it belong to? What do these pictures tell us about this time and these people? What does that ultimately tell us about humanity then and now?
However, Tectonic’s form is so specific that I was learning a lot in rehearsals as we were playing on our feet. The actors who had done the show before or who are longtime Tectonic company members kept telling me, “You’ll get it once we’re in tech,” because I often felt like what I was doing was too simple. Once we got into the theater, I realized that the pictures are the true stars of the show. It all made sense once I saw the design.
How do you approach the character of Charlotte Schünzel?
Once I understood that Charlotte was the big reveal of the show, she clicked for me, and that didn’t really happen until this New York Theatre Workshop run. The key for me is not trying to make her moment more than it is — she’s getting questioned, she’s nervous, she doesn’t want to reveal the truth, but she must, so she does. I just need to make the environment she’s in clear and play the high stakes of the moment. It’s important that the audience understands the weight of the reveal without too much extra fluff.
Has the play changed a lot between the Shakespeare Theatre Company run and this one?
There are three main differences for me:
- Most of us have been doing this show for 1-2 years, so we are much more dropped in to the show and our characters. Everything feels deeper.
- New York Theatre Workshop is a much smaller space than Shakespeare Theatre Company, so the show generally feels more intimate. The audience feels like they’re in the album with us instead of viewing it from a distance.
- The circumstances of the world are different now than they were a year ago. Moisés always talks about how this show asks the question, “What is culpability, what is complicity, and what is complacency,” and, to me, I’m asking that question every day regarding the current genocides happening in the world. I think most people coming to see this version of the play are no longer seeing it as a general exploration of those questions, but as a very real exploration of what’s happening today and how they personally fit within it.
What was your experience like with A Strange Loop? Audiences have such fond memories of that beloved show.
I feel so grateful to have worked on a show as loved, meaningful and revolutionary as A Strange Loop. I got to work with artists at the top of their game, make my Broadway debut on a show that won the Pulitzer and the Tony for Best Musical, and share a story that made it to Broadway despite many obstacles along the way. It was a dream come true, and I still can’t believe it happened. I think A Strange Loop is one of the best shows I will work on in my lifetime, and it opened so many doors for me.
I love being a part of projects that are pushing boundaries and asking people to step out of their comfort zones — to see the world from a different perspective. Both A Strange Loop and Here There Are Blueberries do that. I’m so grateful for the opportunities that have come my way, and I’m hopeful for many more.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Here There Are Blueberries, featuring Nemuna Ceesay, continues through Sunday, June 30, at New York Theatre Workshop in Downtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
