The world premiere of Steven Levenson鈥檚 If I Forget opened at Roundabout Theatre Company February 22. While set to the backdrop of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, when watched within today鈥檚 political climate, the play feels unexpectedly pertinent. 2017, says the playwright, has given his newest work a 鈥渟cary relevance鈥� that he never intended for it鈥攊n more ways than one.
If I Forget follows the lives of the Fischer family in an upper-middle class neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. At the center of the play is Michael Fischer, a liberal Jewish studies professor whose newest book about the Holocaust is ruffling more than a few feathers鈥攂oth at home and within the larger Jewish community.
The play examines what it means to be Jewish at the turn of the 20th century, a period of 鈥渉ope, optimism, and possibility鈥� for American Jews, says Levenson. 鈥淚t seemed like peace in the Middle East was definitely going to happen within our lifetime, very soon,鈥� explains the playwright鈥攔ecalling the Oslo Accords and Camp David Summit between Israel and Palestine. 鈥淭hen Bush was elected and it felt like something had changed historically; like there was a darkness that fell. In a way that does feel eerily similar [to now]鈥� Whatever you feel about Trump, it鈥檚 certainly not a sunny vision of America.鈥�
In September 2016, just a few months before the 2016 presidential election came to a head, Levenson was overseeing rewrites for If I Forget, and wondering how his play was going to resonate after Donald Trump鈥檚 following had crumpled. 鈥淚 knew the play had to change based on this insane campaign that was happening,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y big concern was: 鈥楬ow is it going to feel in February when Hilary Clinton is President. We鈥檒l have gone through this terrible campaign, with all of this anti-Semitism鈥攕o are people really going to want to revisit this?鈥欌�
鈥淪ad to say that鈥檚 not the world we鈥檙e living in,鈥� says the playwright. 鈥淭he play itself has taken on some scary relevance that I didn鈥檛 mean for it to.鈥�
The characters in If I Forget have not lived through the Holocaust, but it looms over them persistently鈥攕omething that Levenson himself, now in his 30s, experienced growing up. 鈥淚t informed so much of my childhood,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard thing to learn鈥hat millions of people like you were killed for being like you. It鈥檚 a hard fact to assimilate.鈥� For his generation, he explains, there was a constant anxiety of history repeating itself. 鈥淚鈥檝e talked to other Jews my age and there鈥檚 this general persistent fear that it could always happen [again],鈥� he says. Hence the well-known cry within the community: Never forget.
The 2016-2017 political climate has exacerbated some of these concerns. 鈥淚 was feeling for the first time in my life, truly uncomfortable being Jewish in this country,鈥� he says, 鈥渨hich I thought I would never feel. That was such an alien feeling, and still is.鈥�
As the title suggests, If I Forget questions what鈥檚 at risk when we try to forget the past. Michael, played by Jeremy Shamos, is determined to move on from the Holocaust and its haunting presence. For Levenson, the notion to 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� directly links to this desire.
鈥淭here is a huge temptation [within society] to forget the past, or to erase the past,鈥� says Levenson. 鈥淟et鈥檚 just forget the bad things that happened here, let鈥檚 forget the racism, sexism, and homophobia, and just pretend that we were always perfect. Scarily, that鈥檚 a fantasy people have.鈥�
One of the many reasons we can鈥檛 let people to forget the Holocaust, says the playwright, is because the memory shines a light on society鈥檚 role in allowing such monstrous events to happen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to say that Hitler was evil...[It] always seemed like [the Holocaust] came out of nowhere in history and had no precedent,鈥� says Levenson. 鈥淏ut there was a process that led to that. Decisions that were made. Those seem like the scary conversations to have.鈥�
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the conversation that we鈥檙e having now,鈥� says Shamos, of the struggle to understand the decisions made and the hateful rhetoric in the wake of the recent election. 鈥淪ociety is trying to figure out: 鈥楬ow did this happen?鈥欌�
For Shamos, his character鈥檚 philosophy isn鈥檛 about forgetting the Holocaust, it鈥檚 about remembering it in a different way. 鈥淸His point] is that the thing we should have learned about the Holocaust is that nationalism is dangerous, not that the world hates Jews. I think that鈥檚 really strong.鈥� Consciousness with regard to the threat of nationalism rings with pertinence, regardless of your own faith or familiarity with the history.
鈥淎re we focusing enough on that?,鈥� asks Levenson. 鈥淚t feels like, 鈥楤oy, we better focus on that.鈥欌�
If I Forget plays at Roundabout鈥檚 Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre Off-Broadway through April 30. Tickets are available by calling (212) 719-1300, online at , and in person at any Roundabout box office.
Scroll through production photos below:
