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BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette T hings to Do in Munich" is a lot funnier than the play's subject matter might suggest. Briefly put, it's the story of a Jewish man who made one final promise to his mother: He will take her ashes to Dachau so she can be reunited with his father, who died there. The descendant of a Holocaust survivor himself, playwright Oren Safdie surrounds his hero — and Sheldon is a hero, albeit an unlikely one — with insanity, irony, chaos and farce of classical stature. Audiences at the dramedy's world premiere at Arkansas Public Theatre will laugh. But they'll also have a great deal to think about at the end of the evening. "The [theatrical] love affair began when Rogers Little Theatre presented a reading of 'Private Jokes, Public Places' while I was in Bentonville for the opening of my father's museum," explains Safdie, whose father, Moshe Safdie, designed Crystal Bridges. "The subscribers and the entire community were so welcoming and appreciative of my work — it's kind of a playwright's dream. "This was only solidified," he adds, "when Ed McClure gave me the opportunity to direct my play 'Checks & Balances,' going out of his way to do it as an Equity production. Until this day, it remains one of my favorite productions. And when I sent Ed the script to 'Munich' — he's one of my go-to first-read people for feedback — and he said he wanted to direct it, I didn't hesitate." Neither did McClure, one of the founders of the theater company now called APT. "We want the audience to love it — and they will," he says. "The challenge? If I disappoint Andrew Lloyd Webber, he's not going to know about it. Oren will know — and I'll feel awful. But he's given us a great script and great business within the script. He worries about it moving too slowly, but the show flies by." McClure is, of course, delighted by the attention the debut has captured, being written up in Broadway World and The Jerusalem Post. "I'm excited for APT to be out there and mentioned in those publications," he says. "And I'm happy for Oren. For the last 20 years, I've been going to New York and seeing shows, and it mystifies me that his work is not done more than it is. I find his scripts to be as compelling as many, many things I've seen." Kris Isham, an APT veteran who plays Sheldon, says Safdie's personal connection to the story lends authenticity to the script. "You can tell a lot of this is personal to Oren," he speculates. And it definitely is. "It's hard to pinpoint an exact time in my life" that he realized his own connection to the Holocaust, Safdie says, "because information from my mother came as a trickle. In fact, only last year I learnt new details that were quite shocking and made me realize how strong of a woman my mother — and my grandmother — are and were. My mother told me early on how she and her sister had to hide for two years on a neighboring farm, underneath a staircase or in a hole in the ground, to evade the Nazis in Poland. But prior to that, I had no idea that they had all but given up, moving from place to place, ending up in the forest, eating berries, in the dead of winter. My grandmother even told her two daughters that maybe it would be best to OCTOBER 28-NOVEMBER 3, 2018 WHAT'S UP! 3 FAQ 'Things to Do in Munich' WHEN — 8 p.m. Nov. 2-3; 2 p.m. Nov. 4; again Nov. 8-11 WHERE — Arkansas Public Theatre in Rogers COST — $22-$29 INFO — 631-8988 BONUS — A champagne recep- tion honoring playwright Oren Safdie will follow the Nov. 2 performance. He will speak and be available for questions. In addi- tion, patrons may obtain autographed copies of his published play, "Checks and Balances," which premiered at APT in November 2012. Laughter Through Tears Prejudice at center of APT world premiere COVER STORY Photo courtesy Danielle Keller In Oren Safdie's new play, "Things to Do in Munich," Sheldon (played by APT veteran Kris Isham, center) finds himself in the middle of a farce of epic proportions as he tries to carry out his mother's last wish. Portraying the other 25-plus characters in the Arkansas Public Theatre world premiere are Tyler Volz, left, and Anna Hargadon Peterson, right, a newcomer to the APT stage. turn themselves in and be shot, because at least they could die together, and it would be relatively painless. It's only because my 5-year- old mother cried and protested that 'she wanted to live' that my grandmother said, fine, but it wouldn't be easy. … But there were also more tragic stories — my great-grandparents taking poison and committing suicide together as they heard the Nazis coming up the path to their farm. … It is human cruelty that takes the imagination to the limit, and a part of us wants to try and find out why. "Growing up as a Jew, you always heard the term 'Never again,'" Safdie adds. "And you figured after the 20th century bloodbath of the Holocaust and Communism that the world would learn from these events. But I feel we are living in a time where the roots of such movements are rearing their heads. … And so this play tries to highlight how quickly a political situation can change from benign to malignant. As a Jew — and Israeli — I always feel that line is lurking." Read an extended interview with Safdie at nwadg.com/features/whatsup.