What I liked
How incredibly personal and brave it was for Jana to tell this story, and all of the details that made the world of the play feel full. I appreciate the courage it must have taken to sit with all of these life experiences and decide to share them like this. I’m so glad she did, because watching this was nourishment for the soul.
What I didn't like
I think transitions could have been a little smoother, like how we move from a moment of verbal storytelling into a music and dance sequence. But a lot of those technical things were not actually on Jana to execute, and don’t matter nearly a much as what’s being communicated.
My overall impression
Jana shared pieces of her personal history, her family history, and the world’s history in a way that is incredibly personal. So many details captured my mind and emotions—the idea of her family always having bags packed for trips seven days in advance, to “be ready”; the bone-crushing words her grandmother said to her, after which the play is named; seeing her grandparent’s newspaper wedding announcement during a school trip to a Holocaust museum. These things are real, so vulnerable, so affecting. I learned so much about Jana’s personal history, and also the larger story of how the Holocaust reverberated through families for generations. On a personal level, I connected with the theme of family simultaneously being your whole support system, and a prison keeping you from your full self. That feels so universal. Moments were heavy, some were funny, which is always appreciated in shows like this with intense subject matter. Life is not just one thing, it has lightness and darkness. My heart felt open to her, there was such a tenderness to her telling this story.
