Bad Jews: Comedy. By Joshua Harmon. Directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell. Magic Theatre, Building D, Fort Mason Center. S.F. (415) 441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.
September 19- October 5, 2014.
BAD JEWS a taut, thoughtful comedy at the Magic [rating:3]
In this their 48th season Magic Theatre continues its tradition of presenting provocative intellectually stimulating plays that often send the audience away with ambivalent feelings. The previous such play was pen/man/ship by budding playwright Christina Anderson and directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell. This time Purcell returns to direct Joshua Harmon’s 2012 comedy Bad Jews that played to rave reviews in New York City and is now making the rounds at a number of theatres across America. In pen/man/ship conflict was centered on Blacks with different ideologies. In Bad Jews it is amongst two Jews with polemic opinions about being Jewish.
The combatants are Daphna Feygenbaum (Rebecca Benhayon) and her first cousin Liam Harber (Max Rosenak). Liam has a younger brother Jonah (Kenny Toll) who is reluctantly drawn into the conflict. They are all grandchildren of a holocaust survivor who carried a gold amulet called a chai (a religious symbol meaning “life”) throughout his internment. Daphna knows that a chai is typically worn by men but hyper-religious Daphna feels that she is the only one in the family who deserves it because of her unquestioning belief in Jewish Faith.
Daphna is a bright senior at Vassar planning after graduation to immigrate to Israel to do rabbinical studies and marry an Israeli she met on Facebook. Liam, the oldest grandchild is a Chicago postgraduate student working on his PhD in Asian studies. He is the epitome of a “bad Jew” having missed his grandfather’s funeral, does not partake of religious ceremonies and is content to be assimilated into the secular world. Their initial quarrel is the ownership of the chai.
They meet in a cramped studio apartment in New York City after the burial of the patriarch. Motor-mouth Daphna is furious that Liam has brought along his gentile girlfriend Melody (Riley Krull) who becomes the target of Daphna’s vitriol. With Melody and Jonah looking and listening, the vicious verbal ranting between Liam and Daphna raise serious questions about what it means to be Jewish in our modern world.
Author Harmon imbues his antagonists with cogent arguments to buttress their beliefs giving each a viable position in their nasty give-and-take face-offs. It is not necessary to be Jewish to appreciate this play since there is a touch of universality in the arguments of the adversaries. Many religious families face similar situations as each succeeding generation draws away from dogmatic religion. Harmon is hardly impartial since the Daphna he has created is totally unlikeable and exudes cruelty when she humiliates Melody. Liam bares a streak of that same cruelty when he exposes Daphna’s true nature leaving her bereft in the final scene.
Before that devastating final scene plays out the actors give tour-de-force performances with Rebecca Benhayon’s non-stop-talking Daphna dominating the play from the opening scene with the docile Jonah. Kenny Toll has the most difficult role in the almost no-speaking part as Jonah. Toll gave a Tony Award type performance in Dracula Inquest when he was in a strait jacket the entire play. His simple declaration of not wanting to be the final arbiter in the decision about who deserves the chai rings true. Max Rosenak does not quite match the power of Benhayon but does have some of the audience routing for him especially when he drops Liam’s shouting posture to express his love for Melody. Beautiful Riley Krull is perfect as Melody.
Ryan Guzzo Purcell moves his characters around Eric Flatmo’s cramped, claustrophobic set as if they are boxers in a ring throwing their verbal punches with direct and glancing blows. The quiet final scene with Daphna and Jonah contrasts beautifully, but sadly, with loud bombast that dominates the evening. Running time a fast 90 minutes.
CAST: Daphna Feygenbaum – Rebecca Benhayon; Liam Haber – Max Rosenak; Jonah Haber – Kenny Toll; Melody – Riley Krull.
CREATIVE TEAM: Scenic Design by Erik Flatmo; Costume Design by Antonia Gunnarson; Lighting Design by Ray Oppenheimer; Sound Design by Sara Huddleston.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.
