The setting for this play was originally Hilde’s house in Berkeley in 1986.  When she begins to lose her memory, a college student, Melanie, moves in with her to help out, in exchange for rent.  Hilde has three other housemates as well, including Herr Vadim, who was born in Romania and lived in Germany before coming to America. 

Hilde and her housemates strive intensely – and at cross purposes – to find meaning and direction in their lives, past and present.  Herr Vadim has been a leftist journalist in Europe and the United States, and he remains a political activist.  Melanie is looking for a spiritual path.  Roger wants a more ecologically aware world.  Kate, a piano teacher, is an aspiring composer and song-writer.

But it is Hilde’s quest that is at the center of this drama.  She seeks to answer haunting questions about loyalty and betrayal within her family in Dresden.  Her entire Berkeley household is drawn into her obsessive search.

-- Raymond Barglow