The Guild Theater of Ra'anana presents a dark comedy with a Yiddish soul.
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFFjib.awards.298.vote(photo credit: )
The Ra'anana-based Guild Theater, one of the country's leading English-speaking theater troupes, is to present its latest production, Sisters, later this month.
Theatergoers can expect a quality production with a socially pertinent thrust. Much of the Guild's work is original material and Israeli premieres. The company's main objective is to bring high-quality, creative productions to Israel's English-speaking population.
Founded in 1992 by Robert and Jodi Schenck, Pnina Isseroff and Larry Butchins, the Guild performs in Ra'anana's Hamishkan Theater.
Sisters, a Yiddishkeit black comedy, deals with the strains and complexities facing Jewish women today in dealing with the responsibilities and expectations thrust upon them regarding commitment, parenthood, religion and family.
In the play, the three former Kleinman sisters and their respective husbands/lovers gather at the shiva for their mother, Myra Kleinman, a hard and bitter woman who died as she lived - unloving and unloved.
Andrea, the oldest, is a fortysomething hard-headed businesswoman, married to a gentle and ineffectual book shop owner named Paul. Her sister Susanna is nearing 40 and has suffered multiple tragedies in her drive to have a baby of her own. Afraid that her biological clock is ticking down, she has retreated into the safety of newly found Orthodox Judaism with her husband, Marc. Adding to this volatile mix is little sister Jennifer, Myra's mid-life baby, who at 19 has arrived home from college with a few surprises for her sisters.
Sisters is a painful, funny and wry look at the way modern Jewish families face all the options of living today and how they cope - with wit, resilience and occasional tears.
Robert Schenck will direct this original play by Jodi Schenck, following its successful world premiere in Los Angeles. This is the
first of Schenck's works to be premiered outside Israel. The play was presented to strong reviews in September as the season opener for the HFC Theater in Los Angeles, California. Following positive audience feedback, the HFC Theater has begun work on a second of Jodi's plays, The Unadorned, which was originally presented in Israel by The Guild in 1998.
On-stage duties in this production of Sisters are handled by a strong cast of Guild veterans including Rashi Rosensweig, Simon Shochet and Roni Saslove, along with Gayle Rinot in her Guild debut as Susanna.
Sisters will be presented on January 21, January 26 and January 28 at 8:30 p.m.
For tickets or information concerning group or school bookings, call (09) 774-6612 or e-mail rojo1@bezeqint.net
