Pear Theatre’s ‘Eight Nights’ is raw, remarkable

As people around the world are celebrating Hannukah, the Pear Theatre in Mountain View offers its production of “Eight Nights,” about how a Holocaust survivor observes the holiday. Jennifer Maisel’s play is running in repertory with “The Thanksgiving Play” through Dec. 12.

Given its content, “Eight Nights” is sometimes difficult to watch, although it receives a sensitive interpretation by director Michael Champlin and his cast of seven strong actors.

The play follows the Hannukah observances of Holocaust survivor Rebecca Blum (a nuanced, at times spellbinding portrayal by Skylar Rose Adams) from 1946 to 2016, albeit in a non-linear fashion.

A vintage radio blurts out news headlines to let the audience know that the play has jumped to a new decade. That mostly works, although the lighting of another candle on the menorah functions just as well.

Rebecca arrives in America at age 19 to live with her father Erich Blum (Chris Mahle), who she hasn’t seen since she was a baby. She is terrified of everything going on around her and won’t let her father come near her.

Maria Marquis excels as the older Rebecca. It’s easy to believe that she is haunted by survivor’s guilt from remembering her time in Auschwitz and Dachau—and what she had to do to stay alive. She tries to forget, but the ghosts of her mother, father and husband keep reminding her.

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Eventually, she allows her husband Aaron (a kind, gentle Max Mahle) to bring home a coworker, Benjamin (played with studied seriousness by Pear’s artistic director Sinjin Jones) and his wife, Arlene (an endearing performance by Rolanda D. Bell). But that, too, turns out to be too much for her.

Maisel said she wrote the play to show that people can find “a way to live after surviving loss and trauma, even finding joy in the future.” Still, her main character remains haunted by her experiences 70 years later.

Audiences for “Eight Nights” are capped at 60, with empty seats between groups. Theatergoers must show completed vaccination records. Tickets are $20-$42 at www.thepear.org.