Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on May 22, 2013

By Cindy Mindell

NEW HAVEN On May 5, some 75 theater-goers pulled out their cell phones to text butter, schmear, or works representing their favorite of three plays just read on the stage of the Off Broadway Theater in New Haven

New Haven theater goers vote for their favorite Jewish play

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The event marked the first annual Jewish Plays Project (JPP) in New Haven, a national initiative founded two years ago by David Winitsky to rejuvenate Jewish theater. This years competition netted 167 entries from around the country, which were winnowed to 10 contenders by a Manhattan-based panel of artists. A local review committee in New Haven selected three finalists.

The evening was directed by Winitsky and presented by JCC of Greater New Haven cultural arts manager, DeDe Jacobs-Komisar. The program featured Let Me Go by Jonathan Caren, The Karpovsky Variations by Adam Kraar, and Estelle Singerman by David Rush. The readings featured actors Michael Boland, William DeMeritt, Mitch Greenberg, Margaret Ladd, and Adina Verson.

The New Haven audience selected Estelle Singerman, which follows the title character through a Chicago summer night as she desperately searches for someone to say Kaddish for her after she dies.

The greatest thing about Davids sweet adult fable is its range of characters, each deeply seated in his or her own faith and spiritual traditions. And, at all times, each one chooses to respect different beliefs as vital and necessary, says Winitsky. We could all learn a lot from Seymour the Buddhist giraffe.

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AMERICAN JEWISH HERITAGE MONTH: First annual Jewish playwriting competition debuts in New Haven

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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