The Arc: A Trilogy of New Jewish Plays at Soho Theatre

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2. The Arc: A Trilogy of New Jewish Plays

Following their sold-out run of A Night of New Jewish Writing at the Kiln Theatre in 2022, Emanate Productions are back at the Soho Theatre this August with a brand-new triple bill of Jewish plays. The Arc: A Trilogy of New Jewish Plays is a world premiere of new short plays by three of the UK’s leading Jewish playwrights, exploring life’s great moments of birth, marriage, and death through a distinctly Jewish lens.

The show is produced by the company’s Co-Artistic Directors, 2021 Guildhall Acting graduates Sam Thorpe-Spinks (Sexy Beast, Paramount; Something in the Air, Jermyn Street Theatre) and Dan Wolff (We Were The Lucky Ones, 20th Century/Hulu; Leopoldstadt, Wyndham’s Theatre), and Associate Producer Tanya Truman (Pickle, Soho Theatre, Park Theatre; Fury and Elysium, The Other Palace). Kayla Feldman (Pickle, Soho Theatre, Park Theatre; Right Dishonourable Friend, Vault Festival) will be directing.

BIRTH by Amy Rosenthal (Henna Night; Jerusalem Syndrome; On The Rocks) follows Michael and Linda in the aftermath of their Golden Wedding celebrations, as they are surprised by an uninvited guest. Will Naomi's visit be the marzipan on the fruitcake, or is she a fruitcake; and has she arrived - once again - at the wrong time?

MARRIAGE by Alexis Zegerman (The Fever Syndrome; Holy Sh*t; Portrait Of A Man) sees a Jewish couple during their journey from one date to a million possibilities. Can Adrian and Eva navigate a dating app hook-up whilst also carrying the burden of two thousand years in the wilderness? Or is that just way too much pressure for a first date?

DEATH by Ryan Craig (Charlotte and Theodore; The Holy Rosenbergs; Filthy Business) is a humorous look at how ancient death rites can bring a family together, even after it's been torn apart by divorce, illness, narcissism and neurosis.

Writer Amy Rosenthal says, I'm excited to work with Emanate again after a great adventure last year. I'm inspired by the enthusiasm and forward-thinking passion with which they've approached Jewish theatre practitioners and the creation of new work, and working with them has chimed with my desire to reclaim our contemporary narrative in some way - to write joyful, punchy, unexpected plays that look unflinchingly at the Jewish experience but always through a lens of humour and hope - which I think is how we survive.

Emanate Productions was founded in 2021, and the company focuses on nurturing talent in emerging and established artists of Jewish heritage, platforming urgent, exciting and passionate stories with an integral Jewish soul. The Arc, crafted by an all-Jewish creative team, shines a contemporary light on the cycle of Jewish life, and what it means to live as a Jew in 2023.

Director Kayla Feldman comments, I’m thrilled to be working with Emanate to bring this trilogy of new Jewish plays to Central London this summer. There are as many different ways to be Jewish as there are Jews in the world, and all of us have myriad stories to tell and ways of telling them. It is a joy and a privilege to be presenting three such stories at Soho Theatre, and at a time of rising antisemitism, a vital injection of Jewish culture into the mainstream.