By Jason Hagey and Alisha Hagey
Utah Valley University’s Department of Theatrical Arts in Orem, Utah presents to us the one act play, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, reminding the audience of the value in simple humanity amidst a world of terrible things. Playwright Celeste Raspanti has brought together a daring play that focuses on what it meant to be a person who survived in the ghettos of Terezin.
Raja, a young girl in Terezin, watches as her family, friends, and first love all disappear from her on their way to Auschwitz. The horrors of the Holocaust are the backdrop to this play told from Raja’s perspective. Imagine if you were a child placed into abject poverty, military guards controlling your environment and all that you do. Then, imagine as, one-by-one, everyone you ever cared about is taken from you, boarded onto a train, and they disappear from your life forever. This is Raja’s fate.
But the story isn’t bleak. The story is about hope. In the face of adversity, in the wake of terrible times, Raja explores with us the significance of life, love, and what it means to be happy. The story, when you peel back the innocence of childhood, is terrifying. Raspanti’s play is anything but terrifying. It is a production meant for children and proves a smart way for any child to be exposed to the nastiness of the Holocaust. UVU provides a starting point for discussion about history, religion, and what it means to be the object of hate and ridicule. It also is about finding the good in miserable situations.
Perhaps it is for this reason that we never see a Nazi soldier. The story isn’t about the bleakness of the reality, although that plays a part. It is about perseverance and perspective. Not seeing those that inflicted the pain gives us the chance to connect with the humanity in those that suffer, and later on share in the moments of hope and love. Evil isn’t given a form to loathe and so we, instead, search for deeper meaning and understanding with Raja. We grow as she grows.
I Never Saw Another Butterfly is originally a collection of works of art and poetry by Jewish children. The text has been adapted into what feels like it should be a readers theatre production of a series of vignettes. This is ultimately what caused the greatest conflict for me as an audience member. Because this isn’t written in a traditional narrative, it begged for non-traditional storytelling. What I believe happened, was that in order to be more inclusive to a wider audience the creative team lead by Director Kynsie Kiggins chose to try to tell it like it was a normal play with typical text rather than embracing the poetry and the something ‘other.’ It was a risk. Moments worked out very successfully and others less so. I wish the abstract nature of the text was embraced more and the moments of poetry pulled away from the moments of narrative dialogue.
Every actor commits to their parts, playing through their narrative with honesty and simple sincerity. A love for the text and for the characters is evident in all that they do. What’s more, a good half of the actors are much younger than university-aged. This is a bold step taken by Kiggins, who cast many of the children in Terezin at their actual age rather than adults playing children. Of course, your lead actors are all university students, but this production seems a learning experience for all involved. Hallie Purser (Raja) takes on a hefty load with her role both as narrator and character in her story.
Perhaps some of the most genuine moments of the show happen between Purser and David Chamberlin (Honza). The most risks in storytelling happen between the two characters, and the greatest payoff is achieved as we feel the passage of time, feel the simple connection grow to something more, and deeply care about the outcome of this friendship.
Carlee Baldwin (Irena) gives the most natural and honest portrayal within the cast. She is strong without overshadowing her peers. She offers love and hope and even though it can be hard to swallow (someone finding that much joy in the moments of that much trial), she brings a realism to the role and to the show as a whole. She is the grounding for the audience and for the character of Raja. Through Baldwin’s eyes, we progress and grow in our understanding. Through Raja’s experiences, we find the truths of Irena’s teachings iterated.
Stephen Purdy (Scenic and Properties Designer) does a great job. His set is simple but variable. There are levels for the eyes and for the actors. Purdy gives us exactly what is needed: a blank canvas to play on with enough variety and usability to aid the story forward.
Lighting Designer Aaron Gubler has a very hard task. There is so much movement and so many characters that he needed to create a fairly complex grid. He does this well. This is especially apparent at the transformation of the train motifs. He gives us a sense of space and movement without having to be overt.
Matt Taylor (Sound Design) does a great job of creating place. The music that both opened and closed the show are all well-chosen, well used, and powerful in their own right. I only wish that there was a slightly better audio editing when it came to the voice over that periodically was a part of this production. It was jarring and hard to understand. Perhaps this was just opening night sound issues. Regardless of the narration, the audio choices help give a sense of time and space.
Rae Ann Sip (Costume Designer) created a well-connected color palette. Her clothes bespoke of a time and didn’t rely on multiple costume changes. The characters all connected and obviously lived together in the world. It is lovely. Shelby Noelle Gist (Hair and Makeup) had another set of challenges. For the most part, these pieces are everything that are needed but there were a few wig choices that pulled me away from connecting to the characters. Even still, the makeup merge seamlessly with the costumes and the set design. All have a flow and a connection. They are all grounded in the same world, which again creates a richer experience for both the actors and the audience to share in.
I Never Saw Another Butterfly is a strong introduction for children to the Jewish Holocaust. Any teacher of history not wanting to shock or scare their students would find it a welcome opportunity for discussion and further learning. The perspectives presented are honest, the portrayals of characters focus on the people involved without demonizing, and yet the ominous environment is looming all around throughout the story. Raspanti has given children the chance to begin their grapple with real horrors in recent times without frightening them away. I Never Saw Another Butterfly is a gateway into further exploration about the dangers of religious animosity and the vilifying of others based on race or creed, a much needed discourse in our current political landscape.
The play is recommended for ages 10 and up, due to the subject matter (according to the University)
Utah Valley University Department of Theatrical Arts presents I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Celeste Raspanti
Noorda Blackbox Theatre 800 W. University Parkway, Orem, Utah 84058
September 28-October 6, 2018 7:30 PM Monday – Saturday
Tickets: $5-Kids, $10-Students & Seniors, $14-General Public
Contact: 801-863-7529
UVU School of the Arts Facebook Page
UVU Theatre Facebook Page
I Never Saw Another Butterfly Facebook Event
Terezin is a town in Czechoslovakia not Poland. Please correct
If you are going to be teaching the Holocaust perhaps you need to get a few things straight.
Firstly there were no “Polish ghettos” or concentration camps for that matter. There were German Ghettos and camps established by the Germans during their occupation of Poland.
Secondly Terezin was not in Poland – it was in Czechoslovakia.
Thirdly you refer to the absence of a lack of Nazi soldiers. Perhaps this was because only 20% of Germans were members of the Nazi party. On the other hand German soldiers were mostly happy to support the Nazis and commit horrendous crimes without being Nazis. It would therefore be more accurate to describe them as German.
By taking the word “POLISH” out of the review, I hope it resolves your concerns. It seems to me that some of your concerns are with the play itself and not our review and there is really nothing we can do about that. We simply reviewed a show and you may want to contact either the playwright, the college(s) that produce it, or both. But our reviewers simply reported what they saw onstage, as presented.
Let us know what more we can do to make sure the review is correct.
Thank you–
FRRU staff
Hello–
I am replying to you because we don’t “teach” anything. We review shows. A local university produced I Never Saw Another Butterfly and we simply did a review of it. I appreciate what you are saying, but we only report what we see. We aren’t in a position to “teach” anything.
Thank you–
FRRU staff
Dear FRRU editors, I mentioned your mistake in my article, link here: https://www.facebook.com/adam.kaplon.3/posts/1684945938295214 please correct immediately the bad mistake!!! There were no Polish ghettos. Ghettos and concentration/death camps were created by Nazi Germany. Terezin was/is also in Czech Republic.
#germanghettos – NO POLISH!!!
I took the word “POLISH” out and hope that resolves the issue. Let us know if it doesn’t.
~FRRU staff
Hi Jennifer, thank you for your reply, and I’ll be more than glad to advise. As you had written yourself: “There is no mention of Germany in the review at all”. I can’t even imagine an article which writes about the history of WW2, and fails to mention Nazi Germany, let alone the role they had played in the conflict, being the instigators of it. The fact that a reader of yours could read the article: “I Never Saw Another Butterfly at Utah Valley University Opens Up the Experiences of War Through the Eyes of a Child”, (linked here: https://frontrowreviewers.com/?p=9285) doesn’t receive the information about Germany, which caused WW2, which built concentration camps on the lands of occupied countries, and which facilitated the creation of ghettos, where they kept the Jewish populations.
A lot of the GERMAN GHETTOS were built on Polish land, however that does not mean that they are Polish ghettos. There were alsomany concentration camps built on Polish land, however it does not mean that they were Polish concentration camps.
Instead of historical truth and accuracy, your article only conveys the message that in the one act play “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”, the tragedy of war is seen through the eyes of a little girl who survived the Polish ghetto in Terezin (this is what was written, and was still in the article until yesterday). In one sentence, the reader is fed lies and misinformation twice. First by the use of the phrase “Polish Ghetto”, and second, by claiming that this “Polish Ghetto” was in Terezin. Terezin was never a Polish city, it is a city that’s in Czech Republic.
In the review, the sentence: “Perhaps it is for this reason that we never see a Nazi soldier”. I ask you why? Why does the reader not receive at least the bare minimum of information about who those Nazi soldiers were, what language they spoke, what country they had come from? Should the fact that these soldiers were German soldiers be erased from history, only to be rewritten? For your information – only about 20% of these Nazi soldiers formally belonged the the Nazi party (NSDAP), the rest of the German soldiers willingly carried out Hitler’s orders without joining the NSDAP. Of course there were incidents where soldiers didn’t agree with Hitler’s politics. They, along with their families were eliminated.
Also worth pointing out, is the fact that phrases like “Polish ghettos” or “Polish concentration camps” are a part of Holocaust Denial.
I am fully in favour of the article staying up. I think that it has a value to it, and I hope that the same value is conveyed in the play itself, and that it is worth watching. I want the article to stay up because I believe that freedom of speech and freedom of expression are very important, however this does not mean that freedom of speech justifies the publication of lies, which run counter to historical truths.
I expect, like other Poles, an apology under the article for the manipulation of historical facts, and suggesting in the article itself that Ghettos on the lands of occupied countries in Europe were “Polish ghettos”, as this was what the article contained until yesterday. As a CEO, I would hope you know that previous iterations of the article can be viewed using the Google cache archives, as on the internet nothing dies. I appreciate the fact that the sentence “Polish ghettos in Terezin” has been corrected, however this does not mean that it wasn’t previously present. This is why I believe that the readers of the article deserve an apology.