Throughout his life, Eddie Jaku was a pillar of the Australian Jewish community and made headlines around the world when he conducted a TEDx talk at the age of 99, which eventually led to his autobiography being published after his 100th birthday. Jaku was exposed to the most painful atrocities of the Holocaust with his autobiography recounting the pain, suffering and fear that he and his family had to endure. As one of only two survivors from hundreds in his family, the retelling of his story is undeniably painful for anyone who has read his book and especially for the Jewish community within Australia, given Jaku’s impact.

As a result of the impact his memoir has had on so many people, The Happiest Man on Earth has now been turned into a play currently showing at Sydney Opera House. With one-person shows being in fashion at the moment, this is yet another fine example of the form, with Anton Berezin playing Jaku as he recounts the story of his life.

The audience is immediately introduced to Jaku in Leipzig, Germany, where he is living a joyous life that quickly changes as Adolf Hitler rises to power, forcing Jaku to study engineering under a fake name before he is eventually captured and sent to a concentration camp. After a number of escapes and recaptures, as well as traumatic events including witnessing the murder of his parents, the story details Jaku’s suffering without shying away from the atrocities he endured. It is a cruel reminder of both the unimaginable scale of the Holocaust and the evil that victims were subjected to. 

Berezin does an exceptional job of conveying this pain through the raw and visceral emotion he displays, particularly as the promise of Jaku’s life is swept away by circumstances completely beyond his control. The emotion surrounding the loss of Jaku’s parents is conveyed with real power and poignance. In contrast to this emotional intensity, the narration itself is often extremely factual and almost devoid of emotion, which provides an effective balance to the performance. There is a lot of ground to cover in 80 minutes and the production does a fantastic job of managing this concisely.

While Berezin’s performance was very strong, there were some technical difficulties on opening night, particularly microphone issues, which impacted the flow at times. Nevertheless, Berezin successfully rose to the challenge of performing a one-man show, especially given the emotional labour required for such confronting material. For the opening night audience, this was clearly a deeply emotional experience and one that conveyed just how horrific the beginning of Jaku’s story truly was.

In writing this review, I came across a piece by Jaku’s granddaughter, who noted that only in the final 10 minutes was there significant mention of the positivity of Jaku’s life and the contribution he made to Australian society after the Holocaust. In one sense, this is understandable given the tight 80-minute runtime (which is generally a big positive in plays as it means that they are concise and engaging). In this vein, a longer exploration of Jaku’s accomplishments in Australia may have taken focus away from the suffering experienced by him and his family, which remains at the forefront of both the play and the audience’s mind throughout. However, it also feels like a missed opportunity not to explore Jaku’s contributions to Australia in greater detail, as this ultimately became the defining part of his legacy and philosophy.

Overall, this was a very special play that told Jaku’s story in a sensitive yet compelling way without shying away from the atrocities and pain caused by the Holocaust. Berezin did an incredible job navigating the extremely difficult material, leading to a deeply emotional reaction from the opening night audience. It is a confronting play, but also a very important one.

Rating: ★★★★

The Happiest Man on Earth plays at the Sydney Opera House until 17 May. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: David Hooley