Magpie's Diner will host Townsite Actors Guild play

Townsite Actors Guild is preparing for its 12th play produced in the qathet region. This time, the play will be on the stage at Magpie's Diner, on March 14, 15, 21 and 22.

H*tler's Tasters, directed by Stephanie Miller and produced by Stephen Miller, is a dark comedy, starring four local actors: Kaela George, Christine Cook, Stephanie Zaleski and Kelsey Roosenmaallen.

Stephen said H*tler’s Tasters was written by award-winning playwright Michelle Kholos Brooks and that it is powerful for our times.

"The play is about four teenagers who are seconded by the Nazis to be the official tasters of [Adolf] Hitler’s food," said Stephen. "The play dances between the reality of a tyrannical and oppressive regime and the coming-of-age of these teenagers. It is both lively and poignant, while at the same time, emotional, terrifying and scary."

Stephanie describes the play as both a period and historical piece but also very modern.

"The play was based on a little known story that came out in 2013," said Stephanie. "She [the woman] was 94 years old, and one of Hitler's tasters."

The Wolf's Lair was Hitler's military headquarters in the eastern front during World War II, and where he spent 800 days over the course of the war. Young German women ranging from teenagers to their early 20s had the job to taste Hitler's food to make sure it wasn't poisoned.

"There were 15 tasters in the Wolf's Lair, which is where Hitler spent a lot of his time in the last year of the war," said Stephanie.

"This particular woman managed to escape."

Stephanie said as the Russians advanced [into Poland] and finally found these women, they killed all of them, except this one woman who was able to tell the tale.

Although the play is based on a footnote in history, the story and the characters are timeless, she added.

"It [the play] presents a picture of these youthful women in a time of fear, misinformation and danger," said Stephanie. "There is a level of innocence, because they are young, and despite the danger, they accept the unacceptableness of authority."

The women/girls are spoon-fed reality, and taught to believe that what they are doing is an honour for their country, but they wonder if they will live through another meal.

"They still dream of romance, passion and excitement, but it's all underpinned by this cultural context that they live in," said Stephanie. "They have to learn, for example, how to navigate their sexuality, their friendship, their politics, their patriotism, and that's what's explored in the show."

Although the play is set in 1940s Germany, the women speak in contemporary lingo and take selfies with their mobile phones.

It's been 80 years since Hitler's death, but the contemporary context of the play is palatable. The playwright [Kholos Brooks] wonders if humanity has learned and taken heed from mistakes made in the past.

"The girls [in the play] are from families who didn’t resist the tide of tyranny, or they didn’t catch the signs, or worse, they accepted the inevitable and looked the other way when others [Jewish families] lost their homes, their businesses and their lives," stated Kholos Brooks about the play on her website. "H*tler’s Tasters is a play about many things, but most importantly, it is a play about the dangers of complacency."

Stephanie said one of the things which drew her to this piece was an obsession [by the tasters], a loyalty, an allegiance and passion to this fascist dictator.

"The contemporary part of all of this is an understanding that evil is always lurking out there, no matter what time we're living in," said Stephanie. "It's an important piece, with the notion that tyrants never change, and teenagers never change, right?"

Stephen and Stephanie said they are excited to be using the stage at Magpie's.

"It's the perfect setting for the play," they added.

Tickets are available at Magpie's and Rocky Mountain Pizza and Bakery.

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