The life story of Eddie Jaku (1920-2021) (Kenneth Tigar) told in a show without an interval sounds like something that would be told at breakneck speed. Indeed, there were times when the narrative dictated a brisk pace – this wasn’t a man who survived a Nazi concentration camp, but rather a man who survived several. With multiple escapes under his belt, some of which were made all the more difficult by his increasingly malnourished state, there was even one time when he found himself sneaking back into Auschwitz, because he had sustained a significant injury and the only person he knew he could feasibly receive medical treatment from was in the camp.
Details of that nature are what set this story apart from any other Holocaust survivor account I’ve come across before. On several occasions as a schoolboy, there were visits from Holocaust survivors, who would come into the classroom and share their stories. But as they were talking to children, looking back, I suspect some of the more horrifying aspects of what went on were held back. Not so here, in a narrative that combines storytelling and dramatization with nuance and a quiet assuredness.
This is, I suppose, the ultimate triumph over adversity story, and while some aspects tread familiar ground, such as the heartbreak of losing so many people Jaku knew, this is a deeply personal story, and one made all the more engaging by direct addresses to the audience. Tigar’s Jaku introduces himself and even enjoys stand-up comedian levels of interaction with patrons in the front rows before the story properly begins (in a studio space with unallocated seating, I abandoned the queue for the bar before the show to take a seat near the back).
It’s such a full and complete story, starting with how Leipzig was a cultural centre for centuries before the Third Reich came along and ending not with VE Day but decades later, once he has overcome yet more obstacles post-war to build a new life for himself. Jaku’s story is worthy of attention, if anything because for all the horrors of Jewish persecution under the Nazis, it wasn’t easy for him and people like him even after the Allied victory: the physical and psychological scars cut deep.
Thankfully, Jaku’s sense of humour never entirely left him. The ninety-minute running time felt considerably less than that – always a good sign – and the intense, no-holds-barred approach felt appropriate for this harrowing account. Unflinching and uncompromising, the appreciation of the gift of life was affirming and reassuring.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Adapted from the Best Selling Memoir, this is a one-man play about the power of gratitude, tolerance, and kindness.
Starring stage and film veteran Kenneth Tigar in a “Tour De Force” performance, this production comes to Southwark following the acclaimed world premiere at Barrington Stage Company.
Born in Leipzig, Germany, Eddie Jaku was a teenager when he was rounded up and sent to a concentration camp.
Overwhelmingly grateful to make it through seven years of horrors, he made a promise to smile every day in thanks for the precious gift of life. At 100 years old, he considers himself the Happiest Man on Earth.
Eddie – Kenneth Tigar
Writer – Mark St. Germain
Director – Ron Lagomarsino
Set Designer – James Noone
Sound Designer – Brendan Aanes
Lighting Designer – Harold Burgess
Good Soup Entertainment, Adam Maust and Charlie Stone present
THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH
Southwark Playhouse Borough
20 November to 14 December 2024
