Happy Shalom
by Henrik Eger

Synopsis

A few decades after World War II, the Guest Speaker Committee at the Happy Shalom retirement community in Miami, FL, invites Dr. Marius Schmidt, a professor of English and Communication at Miami University, to conduct a seminar on “We are what we say: How to communicate effectively." The guest speaker gets confronted not only by the aggressive Vice President of the committee, but also by some seniors who are testing him to the core of his existence, while other members speak up and try to balance the picture. The professor from Germany, realizing that things are not going too well, shifts gears several times and, near the end, does something, which not only surprises everyone, but unites the deeply torn senior community in unexpected ways.

Characters

Mrs. Lipschitz:                     Hostile committee member who introduces the guest speaker
Prof. Marius Schmidt:        German guest speaker, professor of English and Communication
Mrs. Schmidt:                       Forgetful elderly Jewish resident who often apologizes for her German name
Mrs. Applebaum:                 Angry old woman, originally from Germany
Mr. Auslander:                     Senior, frustrated with the senior residence administration
Mrs. Green:                           Senior with the courage to speak up

Excerpt

Mrs. Lipschitz: Mrs. Schmidt, I think it is wholly inappropriate that you are washing your dirty linen in public. If you have any problems with life at Happy Shalom, where I am quite happy serving as the Vice President of the Guest Speakers Program, you can always talk with the Residents Committee. They could then take it up with management. But you are now taking away from the little time that we have left with our guest speaker. [. . .]

Mrs. Applebaum: Mrs. Lipschitz, you don’t have to tell me what to do. I’ve lived here longer than anyone else and I can see through you as if you were made of glass and, as the Americans say, “It ain’t pretty, honey.” 

Mrs. Lipschitz: Mrs. Applebaum, that’s quite enough from you. First you interrupted the program with your ridiculous demands for the guest speaker to speak up, even though, you knew that we spent tons of money on the best loud speaker system in Miami. And then you wasted more time with your sob stories from Germany. Frankly, I never liked German Jews—always thinking they are better than we Polish Jews. 

Mrs. Applebaum: Honey, sit down. We’re all sick and tired of you. ​(loud murmur and comments from the floor, all agreeing with Mrs. Applebaum.)

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