Steadstyle Chicago
	March 2010 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Number of People The Holocaust!  As the survivors age and pass away, it is important for us to document what they experienced and saw so that the memory of what took place will never be forgotten in generations to come.  Many of the survivors have been taped so their stories can live, and many of them are now with very little short term memory at all.  In Emilie Beck's "Number of People," now in its World Premiere at The Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, we meet such a man, Leo Gold. Leo is an aging statistician.  He is also a Holocaust survivor.  He is waiting in a room filled with shelves of books, a sort of library with an easy chair.  He is waiting for his daughter he thinks and welcomes us, the audience, trying to recall exactly who we are.  He is a forgetful man and takes us through his thought process of his recently departed wife, the birth of his daughter, Shaina (which means pretty) and his numbers.  His daughter is an artist and he shares with us a piece of art that she has produced.  During the first 55 minutes of this 90 minute play, we learn much about not only his foggy memories of day to day life, but interspersed, little stories of his past memories.  The memories that he doesn't want to remember, but cannot get out of his mind.  He doesn't sleep well and has confusing dreams, but those dreams take him back to the times he would prefer to forget, but cannot. As we age, all people lose some of their memory.  Some struggle to recall the happy times and the joys, but somehow these memories fade.  The memories that we would like to forget stay with us longer and in many cases, more clearly as these are are ones that we know history wants us never to forget.   This one man show stars Bernard Beck, father of the author/director of this strong production.  His demeanor is perfect.  He is indeed a confused man who waits for his daughter.  But as he speaks to us, the other memories, the ones he would like to forget come back.  And as they get stronger in his mind, so do the emotions and the tears and the fears.  We relive some of these moments with him, as they are saved and given another chance to live a normal life. Ms. Beck takes on a challenging subject, genocide and while in this case it is about the Holocaust, I am sure that this could be transformed into one of the other atrocities in our historical records easily.  History does repeat itself and we as a people need to do all that we can to not allow this to take place.  By remembering these historical facts and having the stories that the survivors tell us, perhaps we will not forget and avoid anything like this ever taking place again. While the subject matter of this play is one that is designed to keep a memory alive it is done with a style and grace that will move you and make you want to do more to keep the memories of what took place alive for the generations to come.  I had hoped that a discussion would take place after the show, but on April 7, there will be scenes from the show at Northwestern's McCormick-Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive in Evanston at 5 p.m.  There will be a discussion as part of this special event dealing with historical memory, identity, loss and their implications. This sterling production offers some original music by Jack Arky, which is truly mood setting along with the lighting by John Horan.  It plays through April 18, 2010 at The Piven Theatre Workshop located at  927 Noyes Street in Evanston, just East of Ridge Avenue.  Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.  Tickets are only $25, a value for theater this powerful, and can be purchased at the box office, by phone at 847-866-8049 or online at www.piventheatre.org where you can also learn more about the  April 7th event.    About Alan Bresloff Alan Bresloff, once an actor himself, has been covering the Chicago Theater Scene since 1993, first as the Theater and Arts critic for LaRaza newspaper, then with Salsachicago.com and then onto Extra Newspaper and The Epoch Times.  He also writes for ElImparcial and TeleGuia.  His reviews can also be seen on www.theatreinchicago.com.  Alan does not call himself a "critic" but a "reviewer" as he tries to educate the reader about theater itself, what is a good value, what to look for in a play or musical and more.  "Exposure to theater is a very important part of a young person's life" he says. "Learning about the arts and culture is in fact learning about life" and he tries to explain more in his reviews than just if it is good or bad.  Even some of the poor productions have some value, he often says and he would love your feedback on shows that you have seen.  You can write him here or at albresloff@sbcglobal.net.