After its critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway run, Luna Stage’s World Premiere comes home!
MRS. STERN WANDERS THE PRUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY
by Jenny Lyn Bader
Directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Starring Ella Dershowitz, Brett Temple and Drew Hirshfield
October 3 - November 2, 2025
Thursdays at 7:30pm*, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm
*Special matinee Thursday, October 9 at 1pm
Berlin, 1933. With martial law in effect, political activism has become a capital crime. A young Gestapo officer arrests a graduate student suspected of illegal research. This interrogation promises to be most challenging as he faces the iconic 20th-century thinker Hannah Arendt. Is she innocent? Or an enemy of the state? Inspired by real events, this fantastical drama delves into the life and mind of one of history's most profound thinkers.
Starring Ella Dershowitz, Brett Temple and Drew Hirshfield
Reviews:
"A powerful and timely tour de force!"
—Oleg Sulkin, Voice of America
“Gripping... A play for our times”
—Susan Wallner, Jersey Arts
“A riveting revelation of insight and courage”
—Ruth Ross, NJ Arts Maven
“Thoughtful and thought-provoking! Get tickets today and take your sharpest friends with you... I came away wanting to know more, and with the desire to engage someone very far on the other side of the ideological fence. The right time is now””
—Sherri Rase, Q Onstage
"In a moment of intense polarization in our own political discourse, the play is more than a history lesson and a drama;
it’s also a dissertation on how to speak to another person across a seemingly impassable gulf."
—Johanna R. Ginsberg, New Jersey Jewish News
”"brilliantly directed by Luna’s Artistic Director Ari Laura Kreith”
—Karen Lehrman Bloch, Jewish Journal
“This is a very worthy play and I won't be surprised if it makes the leap to New York City where it really does belong...”
—Peter Filichia, Broadway Radio
Audience Testimonials:
"Profound, Intelligent, Funny!" • "Superb! Don't miss it!" • “A masterful production!” • "Extremely relevant... Edge-of-your-seat suspenseful... A tense chess game... A play about how we all become human to each other." • "Smart, witty writing, sensitive direction, committed acting all take us on a wildly unpredictable ride!"