DC Metro Theater Arts: Theater J has announced a new program that will commission seven extraordinary racially and ethnically diverse Jewish writers to create new full-length plays that thematically and visually center non-white Jewish narratives. The program, called Expanding the Canon, is for Jews of Color, Multi Racial/Multi Ethnic Jews, and Mizrachi (Middle Eastern and North African) and Sephardic (Iberian) Jews who seek to correct and broaden the historically limited portrayals of Jewishness on stages in the U.S. and around the world.
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This is so insanely exciting. Truly Jewish stories that aren’t bogged down by the need to appease goyim audiences is rare in and of themselves but the complete expanse of Jewish Identity, race, and ethnicity and just general diversity is absolutely swept under the carpet. The diversity within the community is beautiful and encompases experiences from all over the diaspora and our homeland, Israel. I have heard it asked before if someone was a Holocaust Jew or a Spanish Inquisition Jew. This undertaking by Theater J gives me hope that there may come a time where no one ever says that again. Beta Israel, Bene Israel, Sephardim, Mizrahim, Kaifeng Jews, and so many more groups deserve to be recognized and represented in all walks of life but especially in the theatre world. We may have started off in America with Yiddish theatre but it is a long past time that we expanded into all different types of Jews.
This article is about Theater J’s incredibly exciting “Expanding the Canon” program. Jewish theater-makers are a driving force of theater worldwide. As someone who grew up doing theater at the JCC and writing plays with other Jewish kids, I believe Jewish theater is a truly unique kind of community and creates genuinely brilliant storytelling. Judaism is a diverse religion, and the mainstream media overrepresentation of images of white Ashkenazi jews is a misrepresentation of the Jewish community, as well as a contributing factor to the harmful belief that there is a one way to “look Jewish.” Giving diverse playwrights the resources to produce their work is the first step to helping the playwriting canon expand to encompass more voices. Playwriting is where unique, diverse, and great theater starts. Theater J’s “Expanding the Canon” program is a fantastic way to empower Jewish playwrights who represent less-visible facets of the Jewish community.
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