IT HAPPENED IN VIENNA

Until the Vienna conference, I had the impression that the days of "happenings" and "theatre in a found space" were over, but I was wrong. Spontaneous performances broke out wherever conference-goers went—in elevators, on the streets, even in the midst of scheduled events. Usually they were solo performances, but sometimes, they involved the whole group. Occasionally, the only spectators were the people involved in the action. Here's an example of that:

At the Museum Quarter, a taxi pulls up to two American dames d'un certain age, both carrying large handbags, A strapping young man jumps out of the passenger seat and opens the back door. The women climb in, delighted to get out of the rain. Then they look at one another, belatedly wary. "I don't think I'm going to tell my kids about this," one decides sotto voce.

"Why are there two of you in front?," she challenges the man in the passenger seat.

"Don't worry. He's driving me to my job."

"So where can we take you?" the driver asks, reasonably.

"Kandigasse 6, corner of Bandgasse."

"Isn't that the Jewish Theatre?"

Now they're sure they're in trouble. "I can't see where we're going," whispers one in the back seat, nervously rubbing the steamed-up window. "We seem to be circling."

They're still driving but the driver turns the meter off. He turns halfway round in his seat. The women freeze. "Don't worry," he says. "We're close, but there are a lot of one-way streets. You don't have to pay while I figure it out."

They arrive. The two men spring out. Each opens a door for the women, who tip lavishly. "By the way," they ask, more sure of themselves now that they're out of the cab, "Do you know a good restaurant nearby?"

"Just around the corner. We have to go right past it. Get back in and we'll take you."'

They walk and find the restaurant easily. They marvel at the uncommon consideration they've just been shown—and at how ready they were to distrust it.

There were times during the conference when the order of business took unplanned, improvisatory turns. For instance, right on schedule, the multi-talented Theo Bikel—he of the inexhaustible repertoire--concertized indefatigably on Monday night and delivered a forceful keynote the next day. But on Friday night he appeared unexpectedly at the head of that huge table at Alef Alef, which for a delightful while became Theo's tisch as he encouraged us to sing with him.

That afternoon, the All About Jewish Theatre board members had been deep in spirited discussion in the Stephanie lobby when they became aware of a beautifully groomed woman circling the group, unabashedly eavesdroppping. "It's so interesting," she explained. "Who are you?" she wanted to know. (They knew who she was: one of the Viennese who had fled, now returning to her native city for the first time.) They answered her questions, but still she didn't go away. When she overheard Theo's name, she broke in: "But we were in a youth group together! Maybe he wouldn't remember me." She had the chance to reconnect with Theo when Mira Hirsch found her Friday night and brought her to our Shabbat table.

Earlier that same evening there had been a more sobering scene, this one charged with resonances both historic and Kafkaesque. We stood before the door of the synagogue in the pouring rain and watched and waited. The gatekeeper welcomed the congregants he recognized. Then he admitted the returning Viennese, whose names were on a list. With us he was stern and distrustful. "Back," he barked, and when we didn't retreat far enough, "More back." And he slammed the door to the synagogue while he studied our passports.

By contrast was the unanticipated fountain of quietude that bubbled up during the plenary. With his signature gentle authority, Michael Posnick coaxed us away from the collective excitement. Magically, what began as group chanting nigunim with Michael, led—as performance has a way of doing—into self-awareness. We unspooled to connect with ourselves, to think about trusting others, to touch whatever it is that makes us Jews. And, perhaps, to applying our capacity for understanding and healing to Tikun Olam.