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Sept. 7, 2007
Friendship from ruin
Israeli production does well at Victoria Fringe.
DAVID FRASER
The Timekeepers, by Dan Clancy, opened in London in 2001
and Tel-Aviv in 2002. Now the Israeli cast has reached the West
Coast and the production that will play in this year's Vancouver
International Fringe Festival is well worth seeing.
A three-man comedy, The Timekeepers takes place in a concentration
camp. Taciturn watch repairman Benjamin (Rami Baruch) has a yellow
triangle on his striped uniform, while the exuberant Hans (Roy Horovitz)
is marked with a pink triangle. They are watched and badgered by
the capo (Omer Etzion), a thug turned collaborator, his uniform
marked for his criminal past with a green triangle.
The play revolves around the dynamic of Benjamin and Hans, chronicling
the evolution of Benjamin's relationship with the eager-to-please
and desperate-to-learn Hans, who has lied about his watch-repair
skills in order to avoid certain death at hard labor. Repairing
the watches confiscated from Jews who will never leave the Sachsenhausen
camp has given them both a reprieve.
These two characters develop quickly from the stereotypes of grumpy,
conservative old man paired with a swishy, out queer to more complex
and nuanced characters. Benjamin's stoic mask eventually reveals
his humanity and Han's flamboyance and humor hides a brave and iron-willed
survivor. Over the course of the play, Benjamin moves from a prejudiced
and suspicious curiosity to a deep and significant friendship with
Hans, the first breakthrough in this relationship being the discovery
of a shared love of opera.
The third character in Timekeepers is less developed and
essentially serves as a plot device to further the storyline. Likewise,
the Holocaust mainly serves as a backdrop for this performance,
creating the bleak and inhumane situation that allows the story
to unfold, hinting at, without delving into, the graphic details
of concentration camp realities (with the exception of the sexual
abuse of Hans by the capo).
In the hit-and-miss experience that is Fringing, this well-acted
and well-executed play is a hit. The response at the Victoria Fringe
resulted in sold-out shows and extra performances being scheduled
in a larger venue – and there likely will be sold-out performances
for the Vancouver Fringe, as well.
The show is for adults only and it will run in Vancouver at the
Waterfront Theatre Sept. 7, 4:45 p.m.; Sept. 8, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.;
and Sept. 9, 11:30 a.m.
Other Jewish-related Vancouver Fringe shows this year include Two
Girls and a Guy, about Jewish composer Kurt Weill; So Kiss
Me Already, Herschel Gertz!, about a misfit teen marooned at
Camp L'Chaim; and Daniel Packard's Live Group Sex Therapy Show
4 Boys To Men Tour, on how men can be successful at dating.
While the Vancouver Fringe runs till Sept. 16, at various venues,
the Pick of the Fringe (the best plays) will be at the Waterfront
Theatre from Sept. 20-23, the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby
Sept 26-29 and the Jericho Arts Centre Oct. 6-9.
For tickets and more information, call 604-981-FRNG (3764) or visit
www.vancouverfringe.com.
David Fraser is a frequent Fringer living in Victoria.
His day job involves working with endangered species for the B.C.
Ministry of Environment.
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