Reviews

November 3, 2005
Wendy Wasserstein's Latest Play—"Third" Aired at Lincoln Center
In her substantial body of work, playwright Wendy Wasserstein draws heavily on the middleclass JewishAmerican world in which she was raised. But this nice Jewish girl does not hesitate to skewer this world she knows best, treating it in all her plays with a mix of affection and severity.     read on >>

October 10 , 2005
"Einstein's Gift" is a Gift to Us All
It is no surprise that "Einstein's Gift" received top recognition in Canada, and will undoubtedly be similarly received here in the States. This powerful play by Canadian playwright Vern Thiessen has just opened offBroadway in a flawlesslystaged production by the Epic Theatre Center.     read on >>

September 23, 2005
Monica Lewinsky is Back in the News
What's a nice Jewish girl doing in a musical satire? For that matter, what was a nice Jewish girl doing in the Oval Office during the 90s? But was she a nice Jewish girl—simply needy and looking for love in the wrong places—or just the opposite?     read on >>

August 26, 2005
New Jewish Shows Surfacing in New York
The Ninth Annual New York International Fringe Festival has been running all this month. This unique event, the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, has been playing all over downtown Manhattan, encompassing some 20 theaters, 4000 theater people and volunteers and 60,000 theatergoers!     read on >>

July 24, 2005
"Primo" on the New York Stage
How do you speak of the unspeakable, understand the unknowable? How do you take on the Holocaust, without fear of trivializing it or falling far short of the mark? If we can come to any understanding, it must be through a single person's experience. Astronomical numbers deal with the abstract, while the particular strikes with devastating impact.    read on >>

June 4, 2005
The Leopold and Loeb Story Comes to Life Again
How could two Jewish boys wealthy, privileged, educated, brilliant commit murder? Yet it happened. It was the celebrated Leopold and Loeb case of 1924. I suppose, if there's something to be learned here, it is that Jews can be just like any other people capable of the range of good and evil which characterizes all mankind.     read on >>

May 9, 2005
Battling Bigotry on the Campus
Jews have become more and more visible in this country, as they make significant contributions and rise to important positions, a circumstance that can be seen as both good and bad, inciting both admiration and envy.
But in earlier days, in the early ‘60s, to be specific, WASP country was still mostly out of bounds for Jews. Specifically, it was not easy for a Jewish student to make it into the allChristian, noJewswanted college fraternities.    read on >>

February 9, 2005
Elmer Rice Revival Now OffBroadway
Elmer Rice, nee Reizenstein, an American/Jewish writer of the ‘20s and ‘30s, did not necessarily focus on Jewish characters and issues, though he made no secret of his own roots. He was interested in experimental techniques, moving into expressionism, for example, with "The Adding Machine."    read on >>

February 9, 2005
"Brooklyn Boy," Margulies' New Play, Opens on Broadway
"Brooklyn Boy," Donald Margulies' new play which has just opened on Broadway, is certainly getting a strong response from Jewish audiences. And understandably so. This memory piece takes the boy back to Brooklyn—and Brooklyn back to the boy.     read on >>

January 16, 2005
"Singing Forest"Another Holocaust Drama
To mark the 350th anniversary of Jews in America, the Jewish Federation of New Haven (Connecticut) joined forces with the city's Long Wharf Theatre. Together they staged readings of plays by American Jews. Opening the recent threeday event was Donald Margulies' "The Loman Family Picnic," with the playwright himself on hand for a followup discussion.     read on >>

January 15, 2005
PlayReadings Mark 350th Anniversary for American Jews
To mark the 350th anniversary of Jews in America, the Jewish Federation of New Haven (Connecticut) joined forces with the city's Long Wharf Theatre. Together they staged readings of plays by American Jews. Opening the recent threeday event was Donald Margulies' "The Loman Family Picnic," with the playwright himself on hand for a followup discussion.     read son >>

January 1, 2005
Kafka's "The Trial" Gets a Staging
Franz Kafka, a Czech Jew, was born in 1883, and wrote his noted novel "The Trial," during World War I. But he was amazingly prescient, predicting with stunning accuracy what the European world would be for Jews (and others as well) in decades to come.    read on >>

December 29, 2004
A Tale of a Tiger
Though "A Tale of a Tiger" now belongs to an American/Israeli performer/storyteller who has been carrying it around the world, it has many antecedents. "Tiger" certainly qualifies as ethnic theater, but the question arises as to which ethnic group. Perhaps "global" would be a most appropriate label, given its multiple connections.     read on >>

December 28, 2004
Modern Orthodox
"Modern Orthodox" never made it first time around, when Daniel Goldfarb's play surfaced at Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut several years ago. Goldfarb had a legitimate theme, posing Orthodox and secular Jews against each other. The play had the makings of a strong impassioned conflict or a riotous comedy.     read on >>

December 18, 2004
Belle Epoque
Mitzi Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center
Director/choreographer Martha Clark, as she is quick to point out, is a fourthgeneration American Jew. How much this has to do with her creation of "Belle Epoque" is hard to say. Is it her Jewish soul which fuels this dark, moody and captivating piece?     read on >>

December 15, 2004
La Cage aux Folles
Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein's Show Makes a Strong Comeback
Jewish and gay are the influences currently making their mark on Broadwaynow both combined in one musical revival. With Jerry Herman's music and Harvey Fierstein's book, both strains are clearly in evidence.     read on >>

December 3, 2004
Billy Crystal in "700 Sundays"
All the world loves Billy Crystal. That's crystalclear. On the night his oneman Broadway show "700 Sundays" opened, hundreds of people lined the sidewalk across from the Broadhurst Theatre. They were waiting for a glimpse of the star . . .     read on >>

December 3, 2004
A Gem From the Past at Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre
Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre continues to make history. Not only is it celebrating its 90th season, as the oldest continuing theater in this country (Jewish or nonJewish). But it celebrates the event with a musical play written by Abraham Goldfaden . . .     read on >>

December 2, 2004
"The Immigrant" and Other Jewish Tales
"The Immigrant" was a charming little play when it first surfaced a few years ago. Charming, but also with historic significance. Writer/actor Mark Harelik wrote this piece as a tribute to his grandparentsand indeed it is their story.     read on >>

October 25, 2004
JewtopiaNew OffBroadway Show
"Jewtopia," now playing at the Westside Theater in Manhattan, is a lighthearted little romp which takes swipes at our own tribe and manages, at times, to be quite funny.     read on >>

October 25, 2004
Senpo Sugihara: The Japanese Schindler
It is most remarkable that Japanese playwright Koichi Hiraishi's drama about the rescue of Jews from the Holocaust is enormously popular in Tokyoand indeed around the world. But even more remarkable is that this piece about the heroic      read on >>

September 26, 2004
Gazing into the Crystal Ball Upcoming Jewish Theater in New York
Will the upcoming New York season offer many plays of specific interest to Jewish theatergoers? It certainly seems so, judging by the advance notices this reviewer has already received. We explore these shows herewith, to help theatergoers make their plans in advance, particularly for shortrun pieces.      read on >>

After the Fall
by Arthur Miller, reviewed by Irene Backalenick
As they used to say at one time, the sun never sets on the British Empire. The same might be said of Arthur Miller and his work. That gifted JewishAmerican playwright continues to produce, and to be produced around the world.       read on >>

Jewish Shows at the New York International Fringe Festival
Reviewed by Irene Backalenick
It's Fringetime in downtown New Yorkthe New York International Fringe Festival, that iswhich runs until Aug. 29. The shows (both foreign and from this country) play all over downtown Manhattan, spreading out in 20 venues...       read on >>

Medea in Jerusalem
by Roger Kirby, reviewed by Irene Backalenick
There's no question that "Medea in Jerusalem," which is playing now through Sept. 4 offBroadway (at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), carries a strong political/social message. And there's no doubt as to where the author's sympathies lie.       read on >>

The Action Against Sol Schumann
by Jeffrey Sweet, reviewed by Irene Backalenick
Jeffrey Sweet is a highly skilled playwright. In "The Action Against Sol Schumann," his new play at the Hypothetical Theatre Company at the 14th St Y, his characters play out their private dramas against a backdrop of political and social events.       read on >>

Address Unknown
by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, reviewed by Irene Backalenick
Holocaust plays are ever with us, constantly cropping up on the New York stage. Hopefully, we'll never become inured to this, our greatest tragedy. But every so often a play comes along with such a different take that one is shocked into new...       read on >>

NonJews Adopted into Jewish FamiliesTheme of Recent Plays
by Irene Backalenick
Two recent offBroadway plays ("Sarah, Sarah" and "Rite of Return") were, by strange coincidence, devoted to the same topic, so it seems appropriate to examine them side by side. Both deal with Jewish women who adopt abandoned children born...       read on >>