In 1939, 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany headed for the West aboard the MS St. Louis. On the liner, they went to Cuba, then to the United States. But our country turned them away.
That story has made its way to the stage starting Thursday night courtesy of the Upstream Theater Company in a new play called "The Good Ship St. Louis." Artistic Director Philip Boehm and actor Peter Mayer joined KMOX to talk more about the play.
Boehm told KMOX how the idea came to be. He said it's the biggest production that Upstream has ever put on.
"I was interested in this subject some years ago, and we were very fortunate to receive some in EA funding for the project," Boehm said. "We're taking this story as a springboard for a deeper exploration of refugees and the human right to asylum generally. We live in a time when there are more displaced people than ever — there are millions of people displaced from wars." He added, "The framework starts with the voyage of the MS St. Louis in 1939."
Mayer said that before he began his role as Captain Gustav Schröder, he put in a lot of research. He added that its connection to St. Louis, and its history of helping refugees, helped him relate to the story.
"The whole story has a particular resonance for me, because I grew up in University City, and many of our surrounding neighbors were Jewish. My family was not, but those families were," he said. "And because of that, I remember very distinctly — those families were essentially, at one time, refugee families, and all of them had relatives that had made it out of Europe."
Mayer explained more about Captain Schröder, and how he was a staunch anti-Nazi, even when it was dangerous to distance oneself from the Nazi party in Germany.
"He was very concerned that the Jewish refugees on the ship be treated well, and he became caught up in their cause. And actually, when they were barred entry, he was outraged by their being barred entry to Cuba," Mayer said. "And he actually went to the extent of hiring the lawyer and filing a lawsuit to get them allowed into the country, which did not succeed. But he became very, very allied with their cause he was extremely sympathetic to them. And that was at his own expense, because it did not make him popular when he got back to Germany."
Hear more about Upstreams' production, "The Good Ship St. Louis," on KMOX. The play runs from Nov. 3-20. Find tickets here.
Copyright 2022 KMOX (Audacy). All Rights Reserved.
Follow KMOX | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Listen on the free Audacy app.
Tell your smart speaker to play K M O X.
