An Excursion to See the Play BROOMSTICK

On Friday evening, October 2, Loyola Intensive English Program (LIEP) student Azusa Kurosawa of Japan and LIEP instructor Karen Greenstone went to see the play BROOMSTICK by John Biguenet, who is also Chair of the English Department at Loyola University New Orleans. Two posts earlier, we wrote about Professor Biguenet's visit with our LIEP Advanced Reading class to discuss with us his short story "I Am Not a Jew" from his short story collection The Torturer's Apprentice. At that time, Professor Biguenet also told us a little about writing BROOMSTICK.

BROOMSTICK is a play about an old woman or witch who lives alone in a cabin in the woods. She tells us stories from her life - stories that are funny, wise, sad, insightful, powerful. At first the witch seems to be the personification of childhood fears, but soon she begins to talk about her earlier life - her feelings about her parents and their behavior, her first love, her experience of deep loss. The play is both lightly enjoyable and deeply moving. It helps us to ask ourselves questions about personal power, about perception and misunderstanding, about justice.

Azusa and Karen were very impressed with the witch's story, with the skilled acting of Liann Pattison who portrays the witch, with the realistic yet magical stage set depicting the interior of the witch's cabin in the woods, and with the ability of the playwright John Biguenet to capture the strength and the vulnerability of the witch in words.

BROOMSTICK is the first play in the 2014-2015 theatrical season of Southern Rep Theater in New Orleans. It is being performed at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center through November 2, 2014.

Azusa and Karen recommend BROOMSTICK to you! A huge thank-you to John Biguenet for writing this powerful and moving play, to Liann Pattison for her spell-binding acting, to Southern Rep Theater for producing the play, and to Ashé Cultural Arts Center for hosting it!

Asuza Kurosawa of Japan and LIEP Instructor Karen Greenstone

Conversation with Professor John Biguenet, Author of "I Am Not a Jew"

Our Advanced Reading class in the Loyola Intensive English Program has been reading short stories and articles about how we respond to differences, particularly to people who are different. One of the most poignant of these has been "I Am Not a Jew," from the short story collection The Torturer's Apprentice by John Biguenet.

The Torturer's Apprentice
by John Biguenet
A collection of short stories,
including "I Am Not a Jew"

In "I Am Not a Jew," Mr. Peter Anderson, a U.S. tourist in Germany, takes an evening walk alone outside the town of Waldheim and comes across a Jewish cemetery. Attracted by its beauty and peacefulness, Anderson enters and strolls meditatively among the graves. Suddenly, he is confronted by a group of four tough neo-Nazis, who threaten him. Terrified, Anderson saves himself by crying out, "I am not a Jew!" This is true -- Anderson, in fact, is not Jewish. Later, however, he feels guilt about his response. The story leaves Anderson -- and us -- with the question: What should I have done?

John Biguenet
Professor and Author
Loyola University New Orleans

On Monday, September 22, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with John Biguenet, the author of "I Am Not a Jew." Professor Biguenet is also Chair of the English Department at Loyola University New Orleans. He spoke to us about how he came to write this story and explained how its many vivid descriptive details come from his own experience visiting Germany.

Professor Biguenet told us that he wrote "I Am Not a Jew" in response to the war in Bosnia during the 1990s. This war raised disturbing but important moral questions for him. In grappling with the complexities of writing about Bosnia, Professor Biguenet realized that he could examine the moral questions more effectively by situating them within a context more familiar to readers -- that of post-World War II Germany.

The details of "I Am Not a Jew" include the picturesque ice creams sold in the town's shops, the ambiguous angel/demon figures surrounding the town fountain, the elaborate but somewhat sinister mechanical clock above the town square. Professor Biguenet explained how these and other details came directly from his experience and observations in Germany and how he used them in "I Am Not a Jew" to create an environment that is just unfamiliar enough to be slightly disconcerting.

Most importantly, Professor Biguenet stressed that his purpose as an author is not to provide answers but to ask questions.

Thank you, Professor John Biguenet!

Professor John Biguenet with the Advanced Reading class