BATUM

A New Play by Richard Hernandez

BATUM

About the Play

In 1931, Dr. Philip M. Lovell is one of America’s most famous and controversial health reformers. Born Morris Saperstein, he has remade himself into a bestselling columnist, lecturer, and self-proclaimed healer who believes that the body, like society, can repair itself when given the proper conditions.

When Philip becomes convinced that his ideas could help transform the Soviet Union, he persuades his skeptical nephew David to accompany him across Europe with a satchel of avocado seeds. What begins as an idealistic mission becomes a collision with bureaucracy, political repression, and a country that has never heard of him. Somewhere to the south lies Batum, a warm port on the Black Sea, where the seeds might actually grow.

Decades later, David looks back on the journey while reckoning with the uncle his family could neither fully believe nor completely dismiss. Philip neglected those closest to him, endangered patients, and refused to admit failure. Yet some people he treated survived when doctors said they would not.

Spanning forty years, from Depression-era New York and Los Angeles to Stalin’s Moscow, BATUM is a darkly comic family drama about ambition, faith, ideology, and the dangerous distance between wanting to save the world and knowing how to love the people in front of you.

I’ve spent my life trying to decide what Philip Lovell was. A fool. A fraud. Or the only one of us who was ever right about anything.
— David Saperstein

From the Record

The Historical Figures

Dr. Philip M. Lovell

Naturopath & Health Crusader

A celebrated Southern California naturopath whose syndicated Care of the Body Los Angeles Times column preached sunlight, raw food, and natural living to a nation. He believed nothing was accidental—that disease, like society itself, was simply a problem waiting for the right conditions and a clear enough mind to solve it. His ideas made him one of the most famous and controversial health reformers in America.

The Lovell Health House

Los Angeles · 1929

Conceived by Philip and Leah Lovell and designed by Richard Neutra, this pioneering steel-framed house above the Hollywood Hills became one of the defining landmarks of modern architecture. Nearly a century later, it remains one of California’s most influential and studied modern homes. Every room was shaped by a belief in light, air, and healthy living.

David Saperstein

Lawyer · Architect of the SEC

A brilliant lawyer who helped build the Securities and Exchange Commission on a simple conviction: that people are flawed, self-deceiving, and must be guarded against—even from themselves. Throughout his life, he remained Philip Lovell’s closest critic, fiercest defender, and devoted nephew. His steady hand helped shape the rules that still govern America’s financial markets today.

I mean to give them to the people building the future. Because they’re the only ones with the nerve to plant a seed. Something that won’t bear fruit for years.
— Dr. Philip Lovell

The Author

About the Playwright

Richard Hernandez is a playwright, writer, and communications strategist whose work explores history, family, politics, and the systems people build to understand themselves and one another. BATUM is his first full-length stage play, inspired by the extraordinary lives of his relatives, Dr. Philip M. Lovell and David Saperstein, and years of archival research into their family and the worlds they helped shape. Originally from Southern California, he is a classically trained vocalist who has performed throughout the region and internationally. He currently lives in Southern Nevada.

Suffering wasn’t proof they’d lost. Sometimes it’s proof a thing is being born.
— Leo Gallagher

By Invitation

Read Batum

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