One Scarf Vs. Siberia: What Can ‘Fiddler’ Teach a Parent in a Dangerous World?
A beloved musical about refugees, and a new one about current U.S. border policies, hit unexpectedly hard in a newly unsettled time.
All Stories About Jewish themes
Jason Alexander Can’t ‘Forget’ the Theatre
Now directing the L.A. premiere of Steven Levenson’s Jewish American family drama ‘If I Forget,’ Alexander holds forth about identity, history, and what he learned from Jerome Robbins.
Funny Girls, Money Men: The Complications of Jewishness on Broadway
Using ‘Funny Girl’ and ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ as jumping-off points, 2 theatremakers tackle the often cross-cutting challenges of Jewish representation, and explore why casting alone can’t save problematic material.
Fragments, Loss, and Language: On the Jewishness of Pinter and Stoppard
An excerpt from a new book about the lessons learned from staging the work of 2 major English writers.
Hath Not a Jew Roles? A Case for Authentic Jewish Casting
Not every Jewish role needs to be cast with Jewish actors, but for plays with antisemitic elements, strong Jewish representation is a must.
Kaddish for Steve: On the Jewishness of Sondheim
Sondheim’s work is elusive, ambivalent, internally conflicted, and deeply concerned with how stories are told. What could be more Jewish?
Know a Theatre: Six Points Theater of St. Paul, Minn.
Formerly the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, this Twin Cities mainstay is dedicated to new work rooted in Jewish culture.
The Familiar and the New: Teaching Black Plays in Jewish High Schools
How a plan to teach ‘Pipeline’ and ‘School Girls’ grew into a curriculum stressing both the plays’ universality and specificity on issues of race, colorism, and inequity.
‘Visiting Mr. Green’ in India
How a cross-cultural collaboration took shape over video call, then in person, affirming universal truths about both human experience and theatre practice.
Hath Not a Woman Eyes? How a Female Shylock Changes ‘The Merchant of Venice’
For a production last year in Calgary, a gender switch illuminated the Shakespeare play’s conflicts in fresh and troubling ways.
