Description

This unique collection of 10 short plays was commissioned and produced by Theatre Ariel, one of the country’s leading theater companies dedicated to Jewish culture through the medium of new plays. Some plays are about contemporary Jewish life, others are about Jewish women, while the rest are based on stories and characters from the Old Testament, giving them a theatrical and very modern up-to-date twist. In ‘Til Death Do Us Plots, newly divorced and dead Art and Lucille are stuck for eternity and some everlasting kvetching in a double coffin. A widow who’s a Class Act registers for everything from cooking to clowning at the local Y. A bumbling Foot Peddler tells of selling his wares in 19th-century Pennsylvania. Jewish women of all ages will appreciate the humorous mishaps of being: a Single Jewish Female poking around for a partner; The Ger (The Convert) trying to rally support from family and friends; and a mother and daughter who, In Spite of Everything, renew each other’s faith while trapped in a Tel Aviv apartment during an Iraq scud attack. Where’s Your Stuff focuses on a young man who has given up his faith only to be jaunted in the middle of the night by the spirit of his long-departed bar mitzvah coach, Cantor Birnbaum. Smoke is a disquisition on cigars, memory and the Sabbath. In addition, we have two very clever Midrash biblical interpretations: a talking golden calf takes this Golden Opportunity to speak out on worshiping idols, while An Interview with a Scapegoat takes one reporter to task as she tries to get her story on the hottest goat in the wilderness! Simple set.