AMERICAN THEATRE: My first full-length play to be produced in New York City was called A Shylock. It was about Shakespeare, and it was about anti-Semitism. The lead, a character named Jack Levy, was played by a talented actor who still frequently works with me, 25 years later. As it happens, he is not Jewish. At the time I thought nothing of it.
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This is something that is really important to me. I remember when a gentile director I worked with told me that he had played Tevye in the national tour of Fiddler On The Roof. I respect this man very much but that is not something unusual. It is so rare to actually get a cast of Jews to play Jews in the biggest musical about Jewish culture in the theatre. Any beautiful Jews are played by gentiles and we have to be rich, annoying, funny, nerdy, neurotic, or any combination of the above. And this is just from a Reform perspective. I know of many Orthadox people who get done even worse in media where they don’t even get to be funny themselves they get to be the butt of the joke. And gentiles don’t care because Jews don’t fit into neat little boxes because we are older than all of them and they don’t care to actually put in any time to research us because “ they can’t be oppressed, they’re all rich.”
As a Jewish person in theatre, I found this article particularly interesting because it touched on playwriting, a part of the industry I am personally unfamiliar with. The author identified how stereotypes about Jewish people are woven into playwriting and how that may influence casting. This is something I actually pay close attention to when watching tv/film or theatrical performances because although obvious at times, there are moments where it takes someone with prior knowledge to identify. I find it interesting how the author discussed how the dramaturgy was an integral part of connecting Judaism to other aspects of a play. This goes to show how important dramaturgical work is when making a production or storyline meaningful and accurate. This article was also a reminder of how important allyship is in the Jewish Community especially because, as the author mentions, “Holocaust education is declining”. I didn’t realize there was a such a large Jewish community within the theatre/playwriting industry, but it is comforting to know these stories will continued to be told.
Casting Jewish actors in Jewish roles is something I don’t often see discussed, although I’m sure these conversations have been happening in some capacity for a long time. Reading this article prompted me to look up if some of the actors from one of my favorite recent shows, The Band’s Visit, are Jewish. Surprisingly, neither Tony Shalhoub or Katrina Lenk are Jewish, although it’s not clear whether Shalhoub’s character is supposed to be Jewish. Lenk’s character, however, is implied to be Jewish, and it makes me wonder whether that situation fits this author’s perspective that if the Jewish faith is not a central part of the story/character then casting non-Jewish actors is acceptable. Shalhoub has spoken in regards to the issue because he has played multiple Jewish characters, and has stated that he believes it is important that actors be able to occupy different identities than their own, in response to comments by Sarah Silverman.
This article speaks to me a Jewish person who writes Jewish plays, and as a lover of Shakespeare with a very, very complicated relationship with Shakespeare’s relationship to Judaism. I think the question does boil down to context and what is important to express about Judaism in the moment. I disagree that all discussion about anti-semitism in plays requires Jewish actors. Due to the inherently complicated definition of Judaism, it will always be difficult to find any actor and character that experience Judaism in the same way. That being said, Jewish actors provide dimension to Jewish characters. In thc case of the Merchant Of Venice, performing the play in line with Shakespeare’s original intentions is always a bad idea. The play as intended is an antisemetic work, regardless of the jewishness of the actor playing Shylock. When Merchant is reimagined, the implications of the Jew in the context of the work changes as well.
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