Hundreds of Sisters & One Big Brother

In spite of the talents of its solo performer, HUNDREDS OF SISTERS & ONE BIG BROTHER, is too thin to sustain 90 minutes of uninterrupted monologue.

Deborah Swisher’s autobiography recounts her youth in the Synanon commune where Hanna her "hippie-go-liberal Jewish mother" brought her and sister, Delia. What appears at first as a utopian alternative to Deborah’s home life "ethnic table tennis" with Mom and her alcoholic Black dad, takes on aspects of a society under terrorist control. At Synanon families don’t live together, and Big Brother, Synanon’s founder, dictates how to live, decking out responsibility and punishment over his radio broadcasts.

Ms. Swisher portrays all of the characters from Hannah, her mother, to Ray the junkie and all the commune kids, transforming quickly and adeptly from one to the other. She has lots of energy, and the courage of a young woman who started life on her own at the age of 18.

There are some interesting insights into the Synanon phenomenon which is paralleled at times to Jonestown and Waco. HUNDREDS OF SISTERS also recounts the commune’s strengths as an alternative for junkies and social outcasts. As one of Deborah’s characters explains, "Some people are protected here by the state. We just want to help them, so we run after them, beat them up and reshape their heads".

And while clearly the source of so much personal hardship, Deborah maintains the positive outlook expressed in Synanon’s famous credo "this could be the 1st day of the rest of your life". As you can gather, it’s a tough rap to beat.

That’s This Week on Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.