Greenville’s Warehouse Theatre opens its latest production, “Here There Are Blueberries,” on September 18. The 90‑minute documentary drama, directed by Jay Briggs, draws on a real collection of photographs sent anonymously to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007.
Local theater brings a difficult history to life
The images show personnel who worked at Auschwitz, including Nazi officers and civilian staff, both on duty and at leisure. One striking photo captures a group of women eating fresh blueberries at a retreat used by camp workers. Briggs says the album “features none of the inmates. It is only photographs of people who worked at the camp,” giving the play a rare perspective.
Created by the Tectonic Theater Project—best known for “The Laramie Project”—the piece blends interviews, archival material, and live performance. Eight actors portray historians, archivists and other figures connected to the photographs. One central character, Rebecca, is a real‑life historian and archivist who investigated the album for the Holocaust museum.
Investigating the past as a detective story
The production treats the research process like a mystery. Actors reenact the archivists’ efforts to identify the people in the photos, determine when and where the pictures were taken, and uncover what they reveal about Auschwitz. Projected images appear throughout, functioning almost as an “extra character,” according to Briggs.
Beyond solving a historical puzzle, the play asks audiences to confront a deeper moral question. “It challenges us to not place the evil that we want to associate with this terrible event in history outside of ourselves,” Briggs explains. He warns against treating perpetrators as alien monsters; the blueberry scene shows ordinary moments of pleasure juxtaposed with the horror of the camp.
Why the story matters for Greenville
By presenting this unsettling material in a local venue, the Warehouse Theatre invites Greenville residents to grapple with the complexities of human nature and moral responsibility. The production runs through October 4, with tickets ranging from $35 to $40. For more information, call 864‑235‑6948 or visit warehousetheatre.com.
Original reporting: Greenville Journal — read the source article.
