Jane Elias talks about Do This One Thing For Me

Based on the writer and performer’s own relationship with her father, a Sephardic Jew from Greece who survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, Jane Elias asks what it is to live with generational trauma in her Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Do This One Thing for Me. We asked Jane about making the show

What is Do This One Thing for Me about, and how did it begin?

Do This One Thing for Me is a play that explores my relationship with my father, Beni, who grew up in Greece and survived the Holocaust. I had been interested in solo performance for some time when I enrolled in a solo show writing workshop in the fall of 2012 (nearly two years after my father passed away), though going in I didn't have a clear intention as far as subject matter or story. The first day of class, our teacher asked each of us what we were interested in writing about. I said I wasn't yet sure, but what I was sure about was that the only thing I did NOT want to write about was my father. So, in textbook fashion, it was quickly determined that my father and my relationship with him would be front and centre.

How do you balance the serious themes of grief and trauma with the elements of humour in your storytelling?

The same way I attempt to balance them in life! Humour is always coping mechanism number one. I am thankful to be affiliated with a group of people who have historically invoked humour in the face of the most heinous aggressions against them. And generally speaking, I think the heaviest truths are most deeply registered when served with a spoonful of sugar.

Can you share a funny or memorable story about your dad that didn’t make it into the show?

There were so many small moments that left an indelible mark. One exchange that comes to mind was on an airplane. My dad and I were seated next to each other, and the flight attendants had just served us dinner. We removed the lids from our trays to reveal something less than appetizing. I prodded the contents with some hesitation, and was surprised to see my dad eating the meal with apparently no reservations. I said, "Is that any good?" He chuckled and replied, "No." I said, "Then why are you eating it?" And he shrugged and said in this very matter-of-fact way: "Sometimes you have to eat bad things." That always stayed with me. It was this seemingly incidental comment that encapsulated so much about life in general, accepting the good with the bad and getting on with it.

Do you have any pre-show rituals to get into the mindset of performing such a personal story?

It may sound a bit hokey, but I always have an out-loud conversation with my dad before the show. I think of this play as something that he and I are performing together, so I talk to him to summon his presence and to feel supported. I also like to dance to music he enjoyed: Greek songs or Gipsy Kings or Julio Iglesias, one of his all-time favourites.

You play various characters, do you have a favourite?

Playing my dad is my favourite. I feel he's alive again in a very palpable way, and I have the privilege of introducing him to a new audience every night.

What’s one piece of advice your father gave you that you always carry with you?

I remember one occasion when he saw me mopey and upset about something (likely blown out of proportion), and I didn't want to talk about it. And he told me: "Whatever happens, you have to hold your head up high and say to yourself, 'I am Jane Elias.'" I laughed it off at the time but I took it to heart. It was his way of saying that I can always hold myself with dignity and self-respect regardless of the actions of others. 

What’s one thing you hope audiences take away from watching Do This One Thing for Me?

I hope that they come away with a sense of shared humanity, that through my sharing of these characters and this particular story they discover points of connection with their own lives, because we are all in this together.

Do This One Thing For Me is at Bedlam Theatre, 31 July – 26 Aug, 15:30 – 16:45. For tickets go to https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/do-this-one-thing-for-me