The Seagull on 16th Street

It takes chutzpah to write new dialogue for Chekhov’s classic The Seagull and to insert Russian Jewish themes that didn’t exist in the original.  While the setting and basic plot remain the same, Theater J’s The Seagull on 16^th Street adds dramatic conflicts over the extent Read more

The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall

Henry Blume (Josh Lefkowitz) worships at the altar of Woody Allen, eats anti-anxiety drugs (without effect), writes about paranoia and anti-Semitism to an audience of zero, and lives off the largesse of his furniture-selling parents. He is about to blunder into the funniest play I have seen in DC this year, Read more

Caryl Churchill’s controversial play staged this weekend

Theater J and Forum Theatre have joined together for a free reading of Caryl Churchill’s controversial 10 minute play Seven Jewish Children and two response plays, Deb Margolin’s Seven Palestinian Children and The Eighth Child by Robbie Gingras. Each of these brief plays will be followed by discussion periods. The program is estimated to run under an hour. Read more

Benedictus

Benedictus - the name comes from a canticle which celebrates the birth of John the Baptist by praying for peace and deliverance from fear - is a political black-box thriller which presents an insoluble problem. Its considerable pleasures derive less from watching the efforts to solve it than from watching those efforts undone by greed, remembered humiliation and fulminating mistrust. More autopsy than surgery, Benedictus is nonetheless an extraordinary character study which makes the blood race and the heart break. Read more

The Accident

The Accident
By Hillel Mitelpunkt
Directed by Sinai Peter
Produced by Theater J
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

The Accident is a good counterpart to Synetic’s Dante, in that you can spend your time wondering about to which circle of Hell Adam (Michael Tolaydo) and his cohorts will be assigned, and whether you will be going with them.

Adam, his friend Lior (Paul Morella) and Lior’s wife Tami (Becky Peters) are self-involved liars, cheaters, and, if need be, killers. Read more

Dai (Enough)

Dai (Enough)
Written and performed by Iris Bahr
Originally directed Off-Broadway by Will Pomerantz
Produced by Theater J at Studio Theatre’s Milton Theatre
Reviewed by Miranda Hall

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a Russian prostitute, a German furniture designer, and an Arab statistics professor walk into a café. Not ringing any bells? Iris Bahr is willing to betit doesn’t.

What she can imagine, however, is that you have heard something about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She can assume that you’ve experienced political conversations that splatter food on the walls instead of advance mutual understanding. And she’s probably right. Read more

Starting the year with some great performances

WHAT A WAY TO WELCOME IN 2009!

Serendipity 4, Natalie Joy Johnson, The Wizard of Oz and Alice Ripley at Millennium Stage

New Year’s Eve with ‘Serendipity 4′

What’s  a better way to welcome in the New Year, than by attending a haymishe (very comfortable and “homey”) Yiddish, Hebrew, Greek, Bosnian, Romanian, Russian Gypsy Bulgarian, French, Sephardic - song filled - before-the-ball- dropped - concert at Theater J.  I have never heard ‘Serendipity 4′ perform before, although I loved, the musical wizardry of members pianist Tamara Brooks and accordionist Merima Kljuco, as they accompanied fellow-member Theodore Bikel during his wonderful performance in Sholom Aleichem - Laughter Through Tears . Read more

Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears

Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears
Written and Performed by Theodore Bikel
Directed by Derek Goldman
Musical Direction by Tamara Brooks
Produced by Theater J
Reviewed by Joel Markowitz

Light your Chanukah candles, eat your latkes and spin your dreidels! Let’s all dance Di Mezinke! Chanukah is here, and Theater J has given us reason for rejoicing. Theo’s back in Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears at Theater J , and he’s brought along two of his very best friends - Sholom Aleichem and Tevye, and two great musicians to help him spin his stories - his wife, the pianist Tamara Brooks, and accordionist Merima Kljuco. Read more

Honey Brown Eyes

Honey Brown Eyes
written by Stefanie Zadravec
directed by Jessica Lefkow
produced by Theater J
reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson

Ethnic cleansing.  Serbians and Croatians. Sarajevo.   There was a time, not long ago when these terms and names were as unfamiliar as ancient languages or distant planets.  It wasn’t long before everyday Americans got a crash course in world geography when pictures of families trudging along the countryside filled the airwaves.  The world premiere Honey Brown Eyes brings that world up close and personal, explosive and disturbingly real. Read more

Without You I’m Nothing

Without You I’m Nothing

• by Sandra Bernhard and John Boskovich
• produced by Theater J
• reviewed by Janice Cane

Theater J’s website warns that Sandra Bernhard’s solo show, starting off a new tour here in the nation’s capital, is not for the easily offended. Indeed. And it’s certainly not for Republicans, of whom there were probably few in Thursday night’s audience, anyway. She has some good lines-putting on a pair of Palin-esque glasses and proclaiming “I eat moose raw” Read more

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