A Woman to Remember
by Linda Pehrson © 2007
Leonard Lehrman: E.G. - A Musical Portrait of Emma Goldman (1869-1940). Helene Williams as the Russian Jewish American Radical Feminist Anarchist. Book & Lyrics by Mr. Lehrman & Karen Ruoff Kramer. Composer at the piano; Susan Blake at the slide projector. The Libertarian Book Club at the Living Theatre, Manhattan. May 1st.
I caught the last of six performances in the greater New York area. E.G. is the finest collaboration of the husband and wife team, Helene Williams and Leonard Lehrman I’ve ever experienced. Leonard told the audience in his introduction that this piece brought the two of them together. Helene auditioned for Emma Goldman and ended up with the part and the composer. It’s obviously a labor of love with the best music and the best acting I’ve seen and heard from both of them. Helene is Emma and Leonard all of the men in her life, which is no mean feat considering there were at least thirteen men listed in the program along with two women.
The musical opens with Emma at age 64 in St. Tropez in 1933 filling out a visa form to re-enter the U.S. Completing the form takes us on a musical journey through her life and the people who influenced her. A metal fence, part of the set for the Living Theatre’s current production, The Brig, separated the audience from Emma, which I thought worked well because it added to the feeling that Emma was always fighting against being constrained and, in fact, had been jailed several times and deported. That is why she is filling out her visa form.
The following interview by Abigail Schade Gary in the April 27th issue of the Jewish Standard (Teaneck, NJ) gives a sense of Emma’s character. Helene Williams again speaks for Emma Goldman.
Q. Does the general public know who you are?
A. Not any more; sometimes I’m confused with Emma Lazarus. I’m mostly known as an anarchist, but I’m so much more than that.
Q. What do you consider your most important legacy?
A. The ACLU, which was founded by my friend, Roger Baldwin, in 1920, would probably not exist without me. He credits me with having shaped his views.
Q. You grew up in Lithuania–when did you learn English?
A. I learned it when I was in jail in America. I spoke Yiddish and Russian as a child, and learned German in school.
Q. What were you in jail for?
A. That time, for inciting a riot among unemployed workers.
Q. How about the other times?
A. For advocating birth control and obstructing the draft in World War I. That last one is why I was deported.
Q. Any regrets?
A. Yes, never having children. But, as I say in the show, my situation is so unstable, living hand-to-mouth, dependent on the good will of editors, audiences, and friends. What kind of a mother would I be? Also, I always wanted to come back and be an American citizen. This is the only place that I ever almost felt at home.
Q. Are you a good, kind person?
A. Oh, yes. I am a mother to everyone.
Q. But you are an anarchist, known for supporting people who threw bombs and tried to kill people.
A. I couldn’t condemn violence if it was done for a good cause or in desperation. Who would deny a starving man his bread?
This kind of witty, thought-provoking dialogue runs throughout the musical as Emma banters with the men in her life. The 21 songs for which Leonard wrote the music and lyrics (except for some where the lyrics were written with Karen Ruoff Kramer) expand on the dialogue in their wit and bite. They express the characters’ emotions. I’d call them musical monologues with some witty duets and ensemble numbers. Leonard even gets the audience to sing along in “The Martial Maniac Run Amuck.” Particularly memorable and moving pieces that Emma sings are the toe-tapping “If I Can’t Dance” and the hauntingly beautiful “Where Do I Belong?” To sum it all up, the E.G. experience is an exhilarating portrayal of Emma Goldman’s remarkable life.
