The reviews are in for Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, Jenny Lyn Bader’s chamber drama about the eight days in 1933 that the young Hannah Arendt spent in a Gestapo cell in Berlin, accused of gathering evidence of Nazi antisemitism at the library of the title. The Luna Stage production, directed by Ari Laura Kreith, has returned to 59E59 Theaters for an encore engagement two years after its first run there, by way of the WP Theater and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Six New York critics have filed and not one of them prints a score, which makes the split easy to miss: Moshe A. Bloxenheim and Mark Rifkin call the ninety minutes gripping, while Rachel Graham and Jonathan Mandell find the interrogation too companionable to carry any threat. Ella Kaille’s Arendt and Brett Temple’s watchful young officer draw most of the praise — though Theater Pizzazz lays the production’s flatness at the director’s door rather than theirs.
The verdict: six reviews so far, and none of them carries a star rating — most American outlets publish no score, so there is no average to give here. The field divides almost evenly: Talkin’ Broadway and This Week in New York are enthusiastic, Theater Pizzazz admires the writing while faulting the staging, and TheaterMania, New York Theater and The Unforgettable Line all find the play too becalmed. Several note that this is a return engagement with the same leads, set and director as the 2024 run, and more than one of them hears Arendt’s lines about laws that keep moving as a comment on the present.
What are critics saying about Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library?
TheaterMania
“An Ambling Nazi Drama”
Reviewer: Rachel Graham
“A drama about a Jewish woman under Nazi scrutiny in 1930s Germany has the potential to be a lot of things. Challenging. Timely. Chilling. Thought-provoking. Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, onstage at 59E59, is none of these things. It’s the dullest imaginable version of the true story of Hannah Arendt, the philosopher famous for coining the phrase “the banality of evil.” The couple of sentences from Arendt’s Wikipedia page detailing the events of the play are more riveting than this production.”
Talkin' Broadway
Reviewer: Moshe A. Bloxenheim
“At first glance, Ella Kaille's phenomenal Hannah is a frail and accommodating woman. But as Hannah's interactions with Kurt continue, she shows herself well able to handle his accusations and interrogations. More than that, she causes Kurt to think for himself. As a result, the cold and sparse prison cell becomes almost claustrophobic with the tension between the officer and prisoner.”
New York Theater
“Hannah Arendt and the Friendly Nazi”
Reviewer: Jonathan Mandell
“Turning a Nazi interrogation into getting-to-know-you exchanges between two like-minded, complex and sympathetic characters doesn’t just feel fanciful. It could be construed as undermining Arendt’s major insight about the brutality of totalitarian society — that the people who make it that way are ordinary to the point of banal. But it does enable the audience to get a glimpse of the fascinating life and mind of the real-life figure of Hannah Arendt. Without Karl’s intellectual curiosity, it would be more difficult for the production to have highlighted some of Arendt’s philosophical ideas. If Karl were a more likely Nazi, there would be less room for humor.”
This Week in New York
Reviewer: Mark Rifkin
“Jenny Lyn Bader’s Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library is one of the best dramas of the year, a taut, gripping tale inspired by the little-known 1933 arrest of Hannah Arendt by the Gestapo. The ninety-minute Luna Stage production opened in October 2024 at 59E59, where I saw an early preview, and moved to the WP Theater in an even better version, and now has returned for an encore engagement at 59E59. Bader is intimately familiar with Arendt’s life and career; her husband, Roger Berkowitz, founded the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College, where she has served on the board of advisers.”
Theater Pizzazz
“Hannah Arendt and Her Captor”
Reviewer: Alix Cohen
“Jenny Lyn Bader’s play is powerful and subtle; direction is not. Ari Laura Kreith minimizes threat/drama by keeping Hannah (Ella Kaille) too wide-eyed and calm even when alone in the cell. Only once do we see her hands shake and that done poorly. As the piece progresses, it seems as if she’ll never get out, yet there’s no sign of increased fear; no stress in her voice, no anxiety in her eyes. Inexplicable over use of arms is distracting. It would be hard to fault the actress herself.”
The Unforgettable Line
“The production has retained its two leads throughout its journey from New Jersey’s Luna Stage to New York through Scotland and back again. Ella Kaille gives Hannah elevated poise and elegance, dressed by costume designer Deborah Caney in a nicely tailored black suit and frilly blush-pink top. She mellifluously articulates the character’s positions on a range of esoteric topics. But every time she throws up her hands it’s as if she is not only being submissive to her interrogator but blocking out any approaching jeopardy. Brett Temple plays Karl with expected precision and rigidity. The third character of a lawyer provided to Mrs. Stern was performed by an authoritative Daniel Cantor at the press preview. He is to be replaced by Drew Hirshfield for the remainder of the run. Around them, the atmosphere certainly hits the right tone. Lauren Helpern evocatively bleak setting is enhanced by Zachary Connell dampened lighting streaming through barred windows.”
Production photographs by Valerie Terranova.
More of what the critics made of this month’s New York openings: our roundups of The Invention of Love at Theaterlab, How Shakespeare Saved My Life at the Public Theater, Arias with a Twist at HERE Arts Center and The Holes at the Wild Project.
Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library runs at 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Park and Madison Avenues, through October 25, 2026. The running time is 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission, and tickets are $76–$96.
