Flashback Friday:
John Wolbers on Hana’s Suitcase

In 2007, Metro Theater Company and the Edison Theatre premiered Hana’s Suitcase. John Wolbers performed the role of young George Brady and reflected on his experience:

My most poignant memory with Metro Theater Company is when I met the real George Brady while playing him in our production of  Hana’s Suitcase. George was Hana’s brother and a Holocaust survivor. Hana, tragically, was not so fortunate. After the show he came up to me and punched my arm. He said, “Thank you for playing me the way I actually was. Loving, but a little rowdy. You didn’t treat Hana like she was precious, you rough housed with her, played with her, got annoyed by her. She was my baby sister. That’s how we really were. I’ve seen other actors treat her like she’s made of glass. Let me tell you she wasn’t. She hit back. That’s why I loved her, and why I miss her every day. None of us knew what was going to happen. If we did, maybe I would have treated her like the precious girl she was. But I didn’t. And I love my memories of her even more for that. So thank you.”

George Brady passed away in January 2019 at the age of 90.

Hana’s Suitcase, Riverfront Times, January 17, 2007

(Photos: L to R, Leah Schumacher and John Wolbers. Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr. L to R, John Wolbers and George Brady.)