By James E. Trainor III
Photos by Janet Schlapkohl
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Elizabeth Hinckler as Matilde;
Emily Hinckler as Magda. |
Davenport - It's 1934. We're in a small, poor apartment in Berlin. Two sisters live here, trying to live out their dreams on
the threshold of the coming nightmare. Magda (Emily Hinckler) is the actress; charming, confident, "the talk of Berlin." She comes home from the cabaret every night to care for her sister, sharing the glow from a great night's performance. Matilde (Elizabeth Hinckler) has cerebral palsy, and is confined to the home. It is difficult for her to move and speak with the ease and grace of her pretty sister, but it is obvious she is the brains of the operation. Matilde writes the jokes for her sister's act, and though she must miss the show, every night, Magda performs a special reprise before resting her weary head.
The only problem is, Matilde's material is getting more and more political, and the cabarets are coming under greater scrutiny as Hitler consolidates his power. What starts off as urbane joking about lesbians in pantsuits becomes nervous dialogue about the party's policy on "incurable" genetic disorders, which, given Matilde's condition, hits dangerously close to home. It is in this dark and dreadful period of history that Janet Schlapkohl's new drama plays out, a story which, for all its terror and tragedy, has a good deal of warmth and humor.
My Sister does as wonderful a job portraying the courage of the human spirit as it does the perils of mindless conformity.
