The parallels between the rise of fascism in 1930s Berlin and the mounting tensions of the 1960s in America were both obvious and ominous.
Some material was simply too much for the audience to handle. When we first performed it, in Boston, audiences gasped and recoiled. It was too offensive, too raw, too cruel.
I resented the change and would often, to the chagrin of stage management, forget to make the swap throughout that pre-Broadway run.
Today, it seems the line is playing exactly as the Nazis gained traction, eliciting an unexpected laughter from audiences that mirrors our society’s troubling acceptance of discrimination.
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