{"id":512760,"date":"2026-10-30T07:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/512760\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T07:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:24:11","slug":"santa-clara-players-presents-timely-1951-drama-i-am-a-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/512760\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara Players Presents Timely 1951 Drama \u201cI Am a Camera\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking,\u201d says lead character Christopher Isherwood in the Santa Clara Players (SCP) 2026-2027 season-opening production \u201cI Am a Camera,\u201d playing Oct. 30 \u2013 Nov. 14.<\/p>\n

The award-winning 1951 Broadway drama by London-born playwright John van Druten later inspired the better-known musical \u201cCabaret,\u201d which opened on Broadway in 1966.<\/p>\n

\u201cI Am a Camera\u201d is set in a rooming house in pre-war Berlin in the 1930s. It focuses its lens on the relationships and struggles of the roomers as Hitler\u2019s power rises and antisemitism grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story is actually about the relationships of several people while the political environment is what is happening around them. It is on the periphery of the lives of the play\u2019s characters,\u201d said veteran SCP Director Robert Casillas<\/a>. \u201cThe tone is [that] of coping with the changes taking place in one\u2019s life as you face the unexpected and make important life decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Devid\"Devid<\/a><\/p>\n

Isherwood, one of the two lead characters, is a young English writer. He considers himself an objective observer and recorder of society and narrates the play. He befriends lead character Sally Bowles, a reckless young English cabaret singer who lives for fun.<\/p>\n

Roomer Fritz Wendel, a German-Jewish man passing as a Christian, and the wealthy Jewish woman Natalia Landauer fall in love. As relationships develop and the political situation worsens, Underwood can no longer remain passive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsherwood\u2019s story demonstrates that as alluring as passivity and neutrality might be during dangerous, tumultuous times, it is ultimately cowardice that drives the desire to stay back and observe,\u201d said Patrick Idleman<\/a>, the veteran SCP director and actor who plays Isherwood.<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Kevin\"Kevin<\/a><\/p>\n

Marel Vazquez, new to the SCP stage, plays Sally Bowles in the part that won American actress Julie Harris her first (of five) Tony Award and helped launch her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis play is more of a love story in the midst of political upheaval than a story about politics, [but] I believe that politics are in everything, and they are inescapable,\u201d said Vazquez. \u201cTry as we might to find comfort and moments of peace in those around us that we love, those precious moments we have are never truly removed or separated [from] politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Birdsall plays Landauer in a role that brought awards to American Actress Marian Winters in the original Broadway production.<\/p>\n

\u201cNatalia makes the choice to speak out against injustice despite the risk to her safety. She teaches us to take risks, even when frightened,\u201d said Birdsall<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his directing debut, Assistant Director Johnny Villar<\/a> said he jumped at the chance to help set the mood of Berlin in the 1930s on stage. He selected period-accurate recordings for incidental music and scene transitions\u2014a soundtrack ranging from Mendelssohn to Marlene Dietrich. Also, Villar plays Clive Mortimer, an American tourist who has a fling with Bowles.<\/p>\n

Playwright Van Druten adapted \u201cI Am a Camera\u201d from \u201cGoodbye to Berlin,\u201d a semi-autographical novel published in 1939 by British-American writer Christopher Isherwood, who becomes the lead character in the play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis play is being produced at a very important time for us. It shows us what once happened to another country, and we must look at ourselves to decide if we will be observers, action-takers, victims, or just deny what\u2019s happening as it takes place,\u201d said Casillas.<\/p>\n

Visit the Santa Clara Players online<\/a> or call (408) 248-7993 for tickets<\/a> in the 71-seat Hall Pavilion (behind Santa Clara\u2019s Triton Museum of Art), 1750 Don Ave. at Warburton Avenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking,\u201d says lead character Christopher Isherwood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[6036,88,90,89,197,15792,2921,2922],"class_list":["post-512760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-players","tag-santa-clara-weekly","tag-silicon-valley-voice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}