ZAGŁADA

By: Darryl Reilly

“I did not kill one Jew!” growls Len Cariou in playwright Richard Vetere’s spellbinding and twisty interrogation drama Zaglada set in 2018 at a Queens, New York, police station. A Polish immigrant in his 90’s who has lived in the area since the late 1940’s and is a retired Canada Dry employee has been arrested for shooting at a Black female freelance journalist who had shown up at his house for a second time to attempt to interview him. A weary New York City police detective near retirement is handling the case. His routine procedures are upended by the quick appearance of an officious female U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent. She and the journalist believe that the elderly man is a war criminal, that he was a Buchenwald kapo, an inmate who became a guard and assisted the Nazis. The old man claims to have been rounded up off the street at the age of 21 and then benignly went through the motions as a minor concentration camp functionary to survive. The government agent thinks otherwise. “Zaglada means annihilation. In Poland, it refers to the Holocaust.”

Mr. Vetere is an accomplished screenwriter, novelist, poet and playwright. In Zaglada he demonstrates a consummate and confident command of dramatic writing. His inspired by history scenario is excitingly spun out through plot turns, surprises and revelations, that all seem plausible. There is even the possibility that the wrong man is in custody. Zaglada is ultimately a well-made psychological thriller with a shattering finale. Then there is Vetere’s pungent dialogue, particularly for the cop who converses as an old-time street-smart New Yorker. The journalist has published articles in The Atlantic and is writing a book comparing the American Black slave experience to the concentration camp system. She is prone to speechifying on contemporary cultural issues which doesn’t devolve into didacticism. The government agent’s parents survived the Holocaust, so she has eloquent observations on the subject. A sterling cast brings these articulate characters to the stage.

The 86-year-old Mr. Cariou as the arrested old man is the show’s mesmerizing centerpiece. Cariou makes his entrance shuffling in on a cane, he sits for much of the time radiating authority, and a trip to the bathroom is demonstrative of his agile physicality. Employing a slight Polish accent, he magnetically veers from sedate to ferocious during his awesome performance as this initially enigmatic figure. Cariou established himself as a major classical actor in his native Canada in the 1960’s, became a Tony-winning star of Broadway musicals in the 1970’s, and went on to appear in film and television. Now, he is magnificently acting Off-Broadway in this challenging new material, he has truly lived a life in the theater.

Salvatore Inzerillo’s Queens vocal cadences and imposing presence enrich his commanding portrayal of the police officer. Mr. Inzerillo is delightfully comic especially when discussing racial issues with from the streets common sense, and is forcefully dramatic when realizing the dark turn things are taking. Sunny Jes Washington is feisty and charming as the intrepid journalist and smoothly delivers lengthy current-era talking points. With her melodious voice and soulful vibe, Maja Wampuszyc is towering as the wily government agent.

Ms. Wampuszyc also directed Zaglada, the intense performances she has shepherded are matched by her focused physical staging. There are clean entrances and exits, precise placement of the actors, and rapid pacing leading to suspense and momentum. Scenic designer Sam Deetien’s smart black wall and black floor space is set with configurations of black tables and chairs indicating differing locales, allowing for swift scene transitions. This film noir effect is accentuated by lighting designer Elijah Warrington’s above the playing area’s circular neon light which replicates the ambience of a classic police station interrogation room. There are also shadows, clinical brightness, and queasy dimness. Composer Rick Baitz’s moody original score and effects such as sirens, tones of Buchenwald, and other atmospheric flourishes are rendered by his and Mr. Washington’s sound design. The cast is sharply attired in costume designer Sonia Machalica’s contemporary everyday street clothes.

Zaglada is a fresh and engrossing twist on unsettling familiar territory.

ZAGŁADA (through November 2, 2025)
American Theatre of Actors, 314 West 54th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.americantheatreofactors.org
Running time: one hour and 40 minutes with no intermission