OPEN: The New Jewish Theater Residency at the 14th Street Y Announces Projects, 6/23-7/1

Becky Skoff, Manager and Ronit Muszkatblit, Artistic Director of LABA: The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y (344 East 14th Street) and David Winitsky, Artistic Director of the Jewish Plays Project, have announced the five projects in OPEN: The New Jewish Theater Residency at the 14th Street Y. The Residency, a unique partnership between a major cross-cultural Jewish center and an innovative young arts venture, will provide space and significant resources to five teams of artists, including four days of study, three weeks of rehearsal, and six workshop presentations open to the public between June 23 and July 1.

The five projects that have been chosen are:

SIX by Zohar Tirosh-Polk

SALT OF THE EARTH directed by Zvi Sahar

THE GOLEMS OF GOTHAM adapted and directed by Sherry Teitelbaum

KLAUZAL SQUARE by Sarah Gancher

MAHALLA directed by Melissa Moschitto

Six is presented by the Jewish Plays Project and Salt of the Earth is presented by LABA Fellow Zvi Sahar. The Golems of Gotham, Klauzal Square and Mahalla were selected from a field of twenty-five submissions by an artistic panel of 8 emerging New York actors, writers and directors working alongside a community panel of 12 active New York City residents. The artists rated scripts on their aesthetic merit and production readiness, while the community members judged the importance of the subject matter to the Jewish community both at home and abroad.

New York City audiences are invited to come out to get a taste of the next revolution in Jewish culture SIX will perform in its entirety on June 23rd, 24th and 25th and selections from the other four shows will be performed on June 28th, June 30th and July 1st Tickets are $18 and will be available for purchase at www.jewishplaysproject.org beginning June 1st.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECTS AND THE KEY ARTISTS:

Fully Staged Reading with Multimedia:

SIX by Zohar Tirosh-Polk
Winner of the 2012 JCC Metrowest Jewish Playwriting Contest
Directed by The New Group’s Ian Morgan

When an ex-pat Israeli returns home with her American boyfriend, they are both changed by the echoes of the past and the beauty and spirit of the present. Intertwining stories highlight connections between the complexity of Modern Israel and the fight for peace at the end of the 1967 war. Previous readings were held at The New Group, Cape Cod Theatre Project and San Francisco’s Magic Theatre.

THE GOLEMS OF GOTHAM Adapted and Directed by Sherry Teitelbaum
Circus/Klezmer Literary Adaptation
Featuring aerial arts by Fran Sperling and Klezmer music by Joe Denizon

Thane Rosenbaum's spiritual novel comes to the stage through a combination of narrative, circus and music. Sherry and her team will develop scenes from the play focusing on the visual and performance language where story, performance and Jewish mysticism collide.

KLAUZAL SQUARE by Drama League nominee Sarah Gancher
American Premiere from the cycle "7th" about the historically Jewish district of Budapest.
Directed by Soho Rep alum Jen Wineman

Ostracized and humiliated by the neighborhood mean girls, precocious teen Klara starts hanging out with a strange companion: Agi, the ghost of a thirteen year old girl. With Agi’s help, Klara strikes back at her tormenters and takes over their group. But over time, the girls’ adolescent power trips and mind games morph into something much older and darker. Inspired by a real square at the heart of the city, a playground built on a former mass grave.

MAHALLA Directed by Melissa Moschitto
Created by The Anthropologists

This brand new ensemble created piece examines last year’s Egyptian Revolution through the lens of the Passover Seder. Melissa and her team will use found text, personal narrative and historical scenes to create a tapestry of freedom, both ancient and modern. Collaborating artists include Egyptian film and theater actress Dahila Azama and scenic designer Sarah Edkins.

SALT OF THE EARTH Directed by Zvi Sahar
Live Action Puppet Cinema

Salt of the Earth is based on Amos Kenan’s novel The Road to Ein Harod, describing an Israeli dystopia after a military coup. Using Zvi’s Puppet Cinema concept – a format in which the audience sees the puppeteers working on stage in real time – SALT will bring to the screen the hero’s surreal misadventures while trying to escape from Tel Aviv to the Kibbutz Ein Harod in the Galilee.

ABOUT THE LABA: LABA is a Jewish house of study for culture-makers located at the 14th Street Y. 10 fellows -- a mix of artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors, and more -- partake in a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme, and then interpret these texts in their work. For more information, visit www.labajournal.com.

ABOUT THE JEWISH PLAYS PROJECT: The Jewish Plays Project is a development house for 21st Century Jewish theater that seeks to ignite an explosive engagement between cutting-Edge Theater artists and Jewish audiences by developing and advocating for a new generation of plays and musicals that embrace and investigate the intersection of Jewish identity and secular self. For more information, visit www.jewishplaysproject.org.