DC Theater Arts: Theater J, the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theater, announces the selection of seven Expanding the Canon commissioned playwrights who over the next two and a half years will create new full-length plays that thematically and visually center ethnically and racially diverse Jewish narratives. The program seeks to correct and broaden the historically limited portrayals of Jewishness on stages in the US and around the world.
3 comments:
Having lived 8 miles outside of DC my whole life, I had no idea that Theatre J existed. I am surprised that I have never heard of them as they are the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theatre. I am excited to see what the new program does to help broaden and incorporate more Jewish culture and diverse casting and content into their programs. I am impressed that out of 82 writers only 7 were chosen, to receive the $10,000 commission and a $5,000 budget. With the program starting on August 28-30th, I’m sure the playwrights and producers had more than enough time to work and perfect their chosen pieces. It is exciting to see a theatre using their platform to help create a more diverse theatre industry and broaden the knowledge and opportunities for the Jewish community in theatre. Reading about each of these seven playwrights is inspiring as they continue to use their art to educate others and broaden others minds about their culture to bring about change in our society.
As a Jew, I really appreciate initiatives like this. It just keeps reminding me of how badly I want/need to see Leopoldstadt. I think expressing new stories from Jewish writers couldn’t be more important. For example, I could talk about how much I love Fiddler on the Roof, but it is true that at this point, it doesn’t express modern struggles. Or, it doesn’t express previous struggles through a new modern lens, if that makes sense. Falsettos is wonderful in that its characters are unabashedly Jewish, but not penalized for or inhibited by it (like in plenty of other shows); the story tells a more modern lens of a Jewish family. It is an essential part to who they are, however, it does not dictate their personalities, and that’s a trap that’s easy to fall into, I think. Also, I don’t really often see Jewish African Americans, so I’m thrilled that Herron is able to express that unique combination of cultural experience.
This article is quite exciting. It is well known that many mainstream jewish stories have been written by non-jewish people. This is why this article feels promising. Every single playwright chosen to receive funding is jewish. This means that these playrights have first hand experience on living as a jewish person. I also think that a grand piece of telling stories of marginalized people is not just who is cast in roles but also who writes about these stories. I also greatly appreciate that Theater J also made sure to include several jewish playrights of different backgrounds, races, sexuality and life story. These identities are part of their understanding and written work. I personally can’t quite any theatrical piece that portrays a jewish person of color, written by a jewish person of color. I will definitely be doing more research after this article on all of these playwrights but especially the non-white playwrights.
Post a Comment