Photo montage of Alf Eger, old metronome, and Lily Spitz
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Metronome Ticking
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The title Metronome Ticking symbolizes human conscience, which accompanies every one of our actions, whether we like it or not. The sound also represents the beating of the heart, which races through life’s dramatic moments, and the ticking of a clock, which marks the passage of time.
Click here for a short video about Metronome Ticking.
For upcoming performances, followed by Q&A sessions with the two sons and receptions, contact the editor.
For upcoming performances, followed by Q&A sessions with the two sons and receptions, contact the editor.
Synopsis
Set during the Third Reich in Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and later, the United States, Metronome Ticking is a brutally honest—yet uplifting—docudrama. It’s the only play in which the harrowing experiences of an Austrian Holocaust survivor, fleeing across Europe, collide with the conflicting conscience and actions of a Third Reich war correspondent and propaganda officer in occupied France.
Lily Spitz’s memoirs and Ernst-Alfred ("Alf") Eger’s letters to his wife, Gritt, form the historical basis for this docudrama—performed by Lily’s son Bob Spitz, and Alf’s son Henrik Eger. Metronome Ticking is similar in structure to Peter Weiss’s The Investigation, but moves beyond a mere reading of historical documents by integrating historical images and Nazi propaganda with the action, lending an almost film-like quality to the drama taking place on stage.
Halfway through the performance, the sons switch roles and clothes—an event which puzzles and shocks many audience members, especially when they see the son of the Holocaust survivor puts on the German army jacket and the son of the German propaganda officer slips on the Star of David armband.
This dramatic transformation often starts a self-reflective process for many viewers, causing them to consider the possibility that through the coincidence of birth. Each human being could have been born into radically different families, ethnicities, and circumstances, with all the values that tend to accompany those starting points in life.
Metronome Ticking looks at how people act and react to the many situations beyond their control, as witnessed by Alf’s vacillating stance—from militant and racist conqueror, enthusiastically supporting the Third Reich, to a reflective, self-doubting, and deeply conflicted human being—finally facing the horrors of an inhumane regime and its murderous ideology.
At the end of the play, the juxtaposition of public statements from well-known contemporary American figures links the voice of bigotry from the Third Reich with our own time. This final scene encourages viewers to recognize that a thoughtless use of language can quickly stigmatize individuals and groups of people, unleashing a storm of disastrous consequences.
Metronome Ticking challenges everyone who sees it to reassess stereotyping of minorities, and inspires the audience to speak up proactively before marginalized groups get attacked again.
Lily Spitz’s memoirs and Ernst-Alfred ("Alf") Eger’s letters to his wife, Gritt, form the historical basis for this docudrama—performed by Lily’s son Bob Spitz, and Alf’s son Henrik Eger. Metronome Ticking is similar in structure to Peter Weiss’s The Investigation, but moves beyond a mere reading of historical documents by integrating historical images and Nazi propaganda with the action, lending an almost film-like quality to the drama taking place on stage.
Halfway through the performance, the sons switch roles and clothes—an event which puzzles and shocks many audience members, especially when they see the son of the Holocaust survivor puts on the German army jacket and the son of the German propaganda officer slips on the Star of David armband.
This dramatic transformation often starts a self-reflective process for many viewers, causing them to consider the possibility that through the coincidence of birth. Each human being could have been born into radically different families, ethnicities, and circumstances, with all the values that tend to accompany those starting points in life.
Metronome Ticking looks at how people act and react to the many situations beyond their control, as witnessed by Alf’s vacillating stance—from militant and racist conqueror, enthusiastically supporting the Third Reich, to a reflective, self-doubting, and deeply conflicted human being—finally facing the horrors of an inhumane regime and its murderous ideology.
At the end of the play, the juxtaposition of public statements from well-known contemporary American figures links the voice of bigotry from the Third Reich with our own time. This final scene encourages viewers to recognize that a thoughtless use of language can quickly stigmatize individuals and groups of people, unleashing a storm of disastrous consequences.
Metronome Ticking challenges everyone who sees it to reassess stereotyping of minorities, and inspires the audience to speak up proactively before marginalized groups get attacked again.
History
In early 2006, shortly after Lily Spitz’s death at age 94, Dr. Henrik Eger, a German-born professor of English and Communication, and a member of Theater Ariel’s Board of Directors (Philadelphia’s Jewish theater company), attended a board meeting at Bob Spitz’s home.
They discovered that they were both born during WW II. Bob shared his mother’s memoirs with Henrik, who liked them so much that he integrated them into his evolving docudrama. After several months of extracting and juxtaposing the most moving and haunting parts from Lily’s memoirs and Alf’s letters, and after frequent rewrites throughout a whole summer, Metronome Ticking was born.
Henrik told Bob that he would write this play as long as Bob would agree that the sons would change roles half-way through, to give the audience a chance to recognize the influence of the coincidence of birth on our lives—whether one is born into a Jewish family or an anti-Jewish family, a Christian or a Muslim family, a black or a white family, etc.
Bob agreed immediately and accepted the tough part of taking on the persona of an anti-Semitic Third Reich propaganda officer, while Henrik found it much easier, psychologically speaking, to play a pregnant, Jewish woman in hiding.
Click here for a more detailed history of the play.
They discovered that they were both born during WW II. Bob shared his mother’s memoirs with Henrik, who liked them so much that he integrated them into his evolving docudrama. After several months of extracting and juxtaposing the most moving and haunting parts from Lily’s memoirs and Alf’s letters, and after frequent rewrites throughout a whole summer, Metronome Ticking was born.
Henrik told Bob that he would write this play as long as Bob would agree that the sons would change roles half-way through, to give the audience a chance to recognize the influence of the coincidence of birth on our lives—whether one is born into a Jewish family or an anti-Jewish family, a Christian or a Muslim family, a black or a white family, etc.
Bob agreed immediately and accepted the tough part of taking on the persona of an anti-Semitic Third Reich propaganda officer, while Henrik found it much easier, psychologically speaking, to play a pregnant, Jewish woman in hiding.
Click here for a more detailed history of the play.
Excerpt
Lily: Hitler had ruled in Germany since 1933. One knew that Jews had to live under restriction. Certain places, like the opera, theater, coffeehouses, even benches in the parks, were forbidden for us Jews to sit on. Jews in Germany had their theater or coffee hauses, concerts or clubs. They could go about their businesses or jobs. We, in Austria, heard no details. The papers printed nothing. Only rumors brought us the news.
Alf: Gradually, it seeped into our brains which beasts and which poor crazy folks had damaged our youth, but we did not allow ourselves to be thrown out of gear.
Dear Gritt, we are creating traditions for us and our children. With every change of the moon, we will exterminate the evil around us and the evil within us.
[. . .]
Lily: The train ride to Cortona, Arezzo, was terrible. It lasted from midnight until seven in the morning. When we got on, the train was filled with soldiers to capacity. Because I was pregnant, a soldier gave me immediately his seat: his 4- or 5-inch wide suitcase. I tried very hard for 7 hours –with my knees touching my big belly–to be comfortable, but I did not succeed. In front of my face was the rear end of an officer and I prayed that he should not have the need to fart.
Alf: May our humor be our permanent guest that does not get pushed out by artificial jokesters nor by depressing candidates for the gallows.
Imagine, I had to sit on the same chair year after year. Terrible. It’s more important that our spirit endures the healthy storms of life, and finds its way back to our quiet hours.
Dear Gritt. What we saw together will forever be with you, but how is your bladder? I'm worried. Your Alf
Alf: Gradually, it seeped into our brains which beasts and which poor crazy folks had damaged our youth, but we did not allow ourselves to be thrown out of gear.
Dear Gritt, we are creating traditions for us and our children. With every change of the moon, we will exterminate the evil around us and the evil within us.
[. . .]
Lily: The train ride to Cortona, Arezzo, was terrible. It lasted from midnight until seven in the morning. When we got on, the train was filled with soldiers to capacity. Because I was pregnant, a soldier gave me immediately his seat: his 4- or 5-inch wide suitcase. I tried very hard for 7 hours –with my knees touching my big belly–to be comfortable, but I did not succeed. In front of my face was the rear end of an officer and I prayed that he should not have the need to fart.
Alf: May our humor be our permanent guest that does not get pushed out by artificial jokesters nor by depressing candidates for the gallows.
Imagine, I had to sit on the same chair year after year. Terrible. It’s more important that our spirit endures the healthy storms of life, and finds its way back to our quiet hours.
Dear Gritt. What we saw together will forever be with you, but how is your bladder? I'm worried. Your Alf
Reviews
"Human beings on both sides of the Holocaust: METRONOME TICKING (Henrik Eger/Bob Spitz)." by Neilay Shah, Phindie, March 20,
2015.
“Holocaust excerpts brought to the stage in ‘Metronome Ticking’” by Cheryl Allison, Main Line Times, Metropolitan Philadelphia area, Sept. 7, 2013.
“An Unlikely Pair and the Lessons They Teach Us through Metronome Ticking.” Kira Loretto, All About Jewish Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel
[The world’s largest Jewish theatre website], April 2010.
“Our Parents Were Victims and Perpetrators, We are Friends!” (“Unsere Eltern waren Opfer und Täter. Wir sind Freunde!”).Olaf Schiel,
Bild, Hamburg [Germany’s largest daily newspaper], Nov. 9, 2008.
“Two Men, 'Victims' of the Accident of Birth, Confront Their Legacies.” Bryan Schwartzman, Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia, November
22, 2006.
2015.
“Holocaust excerpts brought to the stage in ‘Metronome Ticking’” by Cheryl Allison, Main Line Times, Metropolitan Philadelphia area, Sept. 7, 2013.
“An Unlikely Pair and the Lessons They Teach Us through Metronome Ticking.” Kira Loretto, All About Jewish Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel
[The world’s largest Jewish theatre website], April 2010.
“Our Parents Were Victims and Perpetrators, We are Friends!” (“Unsere Eltern waren Opfer und Täter. Wir sind Freunde!”).Olaf Schiel,
Bild, Hamburg [Germany’s largest daily newspaper], Nov. 9, 2008.
“Two Men, 'Victims' of the Accident of Birth, Confront Their Legacies.” Bryan Schwartzman, Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia, November
22, 2006.
Audience Feedback
“You both deserve a world of credit for both bravely taking the risk in opening a very private door . . . ”
Larry Woodward, Professor of Architecture, DCCC, Media, PA
“An almost unbearable experience gets transformed into a universal statement that becomes exhilarating for the performers and the audience.”
Ruth Campbell, Counselor, DCCC, Media, PA
“Both my mother and my husband cried!”
Rochelle "Shelly" J. Matusow, Theatre Ariel
“Your reading is a lesson for the world and as such must be shared with others.”
Deborah Baer Mozes, Artistic Director, Theatre Ariel, the Jewish Theatre of Philadelphia
“I have seldom seen a transformation of such a difficult subject that was so disturbing and at the same time so conciliatory,
as your piece.”
Anonymous, Philadelphia, PA
"You have opened the doors to introspection and self-examination; you have unlocked hidden places in the heart. You have told simple truths and retrieved the voices of humanity and true friendship from the fires of history."
Anonymous, Purchase, NY
“You've touched a chord deep within many people and in doing so you've gone a long way to help fulfill the pledge 'Never again'."
Jean and Jim Allen, N. Carolina
“I’m not responsible for that what has happened, but I’m responsible that nothing like that can take place again. Thanks a
lot for your performance. It’s opening our minds.”
Anonymous, Hamburg, Germany
Larry Woodward, Professor of Architecture, DCCC, Media, PA
“An almost unbearable experience gets transformed into a universal statement that becomes exhilarating for the performers and the audience.”
Ruth Campbell, Counselor, DCCC, Media, PA
“Both my mother and my husband cried!”
Rochelle "Shelly" J. Matusow, Theatre Ariel
“Your reading is a lesson for the world and as such must be shared with others.”
Deborah Baer Mozes, Artistic Director, Theatre Ariel, the Jewish Theatre of Philadelphia
“I have seldom seen a transformation of such a difficult subject that was so disturbing and at the same time so conciliatory,
as your piece.”
Anonymous, Philadelphia, PA
"You have opened the doors to introspection and self-examination; you have unlocked hidden places in the heart. You have told simple truths and retrieved the voices of humanity and true friendship from the fires of history."
Anonymous, Purchase, NY
“You've touched a chord deep within many people and in doing so you've gone a long way to help fulfill the pledge 'Never again'."
Jean and Jim Allen, N. Carolina
“I’m not responsible for that what has happened, but I’m responsible that nothing like that can take place again. Thanks a
lot for your performance. It’s opening our minds.”
Anonymous, Hamburg, Germany
For more background on Metronome Ticking, visit this website, or visit this page.
If you are interested in producing or adapting this copyrighted play, please contact the playwright.
If you are interested in producing or adapting this copyrighted play, please contact the playwright.
