Brief Encounter With … Rikki Beadle-Blair

Ten years ago, almost to the day of this
play opening, I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. I was moved to
tears by the plight of the Jews in Germany – and deeply struck by the lack of
public knowledge about the other minorities that were involved in the
Holocaust. I’ve wanted to do this play since that day. But everyone was
scared of the subject matter – not Stratford East. They’ve always supported me
taking risky projects and this is the riskiest and most emotionally epic of our
collaborations so far – a holocaust romantic comedy.

What was the reaction of
people in the US and Germany when you were researching the topic?

Everyone I speak to is curious about
this. People seem surprised that black people in the 1930’s and 40’s
lived anywhere in the world but America or Africa.

Why do you think so little
is known or addressed publicly about black survivors of
the holocaust?

As there were only tens of thousands of
them in the first place they constituted a tiny percentage of the survivors
and, like the Jews, they were almost entirely decimated. Also the Jewish people
have been impressively diligent in making sure this story is told. I
found that determination inspiring galvanized.

Do you think more
widespread attention should be given to black survivors?

I think more attention should be given
to all subjects of the holocaust – the gypsies, Jehovah’s witnesses, the
disabled, the homosexuals, the communists, the poles; the list goes on and on.
It’s a list that contains almost all of us. Practically no one is an
unimpeachable Aryan. The holocaust isn’t a Jewish problem. It’s a
human problem.

Your piece also addresses
sexuality and religion, how do you go about tackling so many issues in one
piece?

I believe the way to tell these epic
stories and make them accessible to us is to use human stories and show how
they affect us as individuals and families. So the levels help give the overall
theme. Humour is key, when all is said and done, my job is to entertain; and
the play is surprisingly funny.

Can you tell us a bit about
how different Shalom Baby is from your previous pieces, I know there are some
similarities in the issues addressed and the way you use humour to approach
subjects?

Shalom Baby is my biggest challenge to
date; to do justice to these stories and still provide entertainment, to shed
light on this subject without it being a history lesson and to treat Nazis with
an empathy they were unwilling to show others. But that’s how I like it.
With each project I look for mountains to climb. I live for challenges.

The piece is also billed as
a transatlantic story; do you see it having a further life, perhaps in the US?

That would be amazing, but right now it
has life right here, in this country in this historic theatre with this
amazingly brave and committed cast. To paraphrase a famous movie line; I
already have the moon. The stars can come later.