SOTTO VOCE, ROZ AND RAY and More Set for Theater J's 2017-18 Season
By: BWW News Desk Mar. 15, 2017
Theater J, the nation's pre-eminent professional Jewish theater, announces its 2017-2018 season, comprised of six diverse plays, including one world premiere and two regional premieres. Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr has selected works by Jonathan Safran Foer, Alfred Uhry, Nilo Cruz, Mark St. Germain, Karen Hartman and Lindsay Joelle, as well as a stellar line-up of directors and actors.
In building the season, Immerwahr felt it was urgent to reflect on "what it means to be the nation's pre-eminent professional Jewish theater, right here in Washington, DC. At divisive political times, we turn to art to help make our voices heard, to help us understand, to help us come together, and to help us heal." Immerwahr continues, "Theater J's season is full of life-affirming and powerful stories of resilience, joy, humor, and strength."
Theater J starts the season with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz's Sotto Voce, a play that recalls the story of Jewish refugees who were turned away from America's shores. Then, for the holidays, the theater will be sharing Alfred Uhry's Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo, a heart-warming and dramatic comedy. In January, Theater J presents the East Coast premiere of a terrific stage adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated, one man's travels into his family's eastern European past. Next up, an exuberant journey takes the stage: in Becoming Dr. Ruth, a girl flees Nazi Germany and ultimately finds wild popularity as a sex therapist in the US. The final two plays of the season are by women playwrights and are also new to DC audiences. Karen Hartman's Roz and Ray is a gripping medical drama set at the dawn of the AIDS crisis And Trayf, by Lindsay Joelle, is a delightful world premiere buddy comedy about a pair of Chabad-Lubavitcher young men in their "Mitzvah mobile" on the streets of New York City.
Now more than ever, Theater J embraces its unique role as a theater whose mission mandates the exploration of the ideas and ideals which form the core of Jewish identity, values and morality. Immerwahr relishes the deep dive and says "this slate of plays represents the work of extraordinary contemporary artists and I believe they will engage, entertain and move our audiences. I could not be more excited and I look forward to welcoming the entire community to Theater J."
Sotto Voce
By Nilo Cruz
Directed by José Carrasquillo
October 3-29, 2017
Love transcends all borders in Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz's passionate and lyrical Sotto Voce. A young Cuban man's research into the fate of the S.S. St. Louis leads him to a reclusive writer who refuses to talk about the ship of Jewish refugees that fled Nazi Germany only to be denied entry into both Cuba and the United States. As he strives to uncover the mysteries she's hiding, an old romance is relived and a new one blossoms. This dreamlike sonata explores the plight of the refugee, the resilience of love, and the sensuality of imagination.
The Last Night of Ballyhoo
By Alfred Uhry
Directed by Amber McGinnis
November 29-December 31, 2017
The year is 1939, Gone With the Wind is having its premiere, Hitler is invading Poland, and Atlanta's posh German Jews are preparing for Ballyhoo, their annual lavish country club ball. The Freitag family hopes that the party of the year will be the chance for their daughters to meet their future husbands-but when their uncle brings home his new employee, a handsome Eastern European bachelor from Brooklyn, everyone must confront their own prejudices, desires, and beliefs. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, The Last Night of Ballyhoo is an achingly beautiful, comedic, and enthralling romance from the author of Driving Miss Daisy.
Everything is Illuminated
By Simon Block
Adapted from the book by Jonathan Safran Foer
Directed by Aaron Posner
January 11-February 4, 2018
Based on the best-selling novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, this stunning and often hilarious stage adaptation tells the story of a young man - also named Jonathan Safran Foer - who sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Jr. Jr., and a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butcherEd English, Jonathan takes a quixotic journey into an unexpected past, where reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power. A highly anticipated East Coast premiere.
By Mark St. Germain
Directed by Holly Twyford
February 21-March 18, 2018
She's America's favorite sex therapist! But before she became Dr. Ruth, Karola Siegel had to flee from the Nazis in the Kindertransport, become a sniper in Jerusalem, and survive as a single mother in America. Starring Naomi Jacobson, this heartwarming and triumphant one-woman show is written by the author of Theater J's Freud's Last Session. Filled with humor and honesty, Becoming Dr. Ruth is a triumphant and life-affirming story of a girl who found her own unique place in the world.
Roz and Ray
Directed by Adam Immerwahr
April 3-April 29, 2018
A gripping medical drama about a doctor at the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Dr. Roz Kagan offers a new miracle drug to save Ray Leon's hemophiliac twins. But miracles aren't always what they appear to be, and life on the cutting edge of biomedicine means moral ambiguity and impossible choices. Powerful, urgent, and beautiful, Roz and Ray charts the untold story of a devastating chapter of medical and queer history. The East Coast premiere of a play that moved audiences in Seattle and Chicago.
Trayf
By Lindsay Joelle
Directed by Benjamin Kamine
May 30-June 24, 2018Zalmy lives a double life: by day, he's the rebbe's loyal foot soldier, driving a tricked-out "Mitzvah Tank" through NYC with his best friend Shmuel. By night, he sneaks away from his orthodox community to roller-skate, dance in discos, and listen to rock and roll. But when he befriends a zealous young man eager to be his student, the barrier between Zalmy's two worlds starts to crack-until he finds himself in the middle of the 1991 Crown Heights riots and must choose once and for all where he belongs. Overflowing with humor and heart, you won't want to miss this delightful new play making its world premiere at Theater J.
Theater J is located at the Edlavitch DCJCC of Washington DC at 1529 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC, 4 blocks east of Dupont Circle. Limited parking in the Edlavitch JCC lot; additional parking available at Colonial Parking, 1616 P Street, NW; limited street parking. Dupont Circle Station RED line.
Subscription ticket packages will go on sale April 15. Single tickets will go on sale August 1. Call the box office at 202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org. For discounts for groups of 10+ call (202) 777-3210 or email julia@theaterj.org.
Theater J is handicapped accessible and offers assisted listening devices for interested patrons.
Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.
Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.
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