The trouble begins with a birthday cake — specifically, the question of who baked it and who will dare eat a slice. To merely take a bite is to make a political statement: Either support a charismatic leader who promises your country a brighter future or resist the order of an evil fascist dictator.
The dessert in question was made by a Jewish bakery in Nazi Germany in January 1933, when all Jewish-owned businesses were officially boycotted. Hence the play's title, Year One, a reference to when Adolf Hitler rose to power. In this 85-minute one-act play, five family members debate the dark and dangerous path their country is on and what role they will play in it.
On its surface, Year One may sound like a social commentary on the ugly and divisive state of American politics in 2024. But, as playwright Erik Gernand explained, he actually wrote the play in 2011, long before the rise of another megalomaniac leader who came to power, in part by exploiting right-wing extremism.
Gernand, 52, is a Chicago-based writer, filmmaker and Northwestern University professor who's directing the production for Wild Goose Players. Starting on Friday, September 13, the Bellows Falls theater company will perform the show in its new, 40-seat black-box theater at 13 Westminster Street. The troupe has been renting the site as rehearsal space for three years and recently renovated it.
Despite Year One's obvious parallels to current events, Gernand specifically intended the play as a character sketch of everyday Germans during the rise of the Third Reich. His goal was to explore how seemingly ordinary and decent people could adopt the mindset of one of the darkest periods in human history.
Yet, as Gernand told his cast of five on its first day of rehearsal, there are no villains in this play.
"We all think we're the hero of our story. I think that's a big part of why this [current] polarization is so gridlocked," he said. "Everyone is convinced that the path they see going forward is not only the correct path but the only path."
The choice of Year One to inaugurate the Wild Goose Players' new performance space makes sense. The play, which has been staged only once previously, in New Jersey in 2021, will be performed in the round in the theater's intimate setting. Audience members will sit in a single row of chairs surrounding the actors as they perform the dark and gritty drama several feet away.
Artistic director David Stern noted that, while this isn't a totally unique venue for the Bellows Falls area, "It's just ours, and we are thrilled to have a space that can accommodate small productions without our incurring venue rental costs. It makes these plays fiscally possible."
And, as Gernand noted, the downtown theater — also called Wild Goose Players — will allow the company to stage smaller and more experimental performances that might not otherwise happen at the troupe's larger home, the Bellows Falls Opera House.