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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">More lows than
chais in Actors’ Summit’s </SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: #111111; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">‘Bad
Jews’<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Cleveland Jewish
News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: #111111; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Bad
Jews” – the purposefully provocative title of what has become one of the
nation’s most produced new plays – typically refers to members of the tribe who
eat on Yom Kippur, text on the Sabbath, and have their kids bow out early from
Sunday school to beat the traffic.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But Joshua Harmon’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">tenacious,
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: #111111; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">acid-washed
comedy digs much deeper. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: #111111; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
play features the young, devout Diana Feygenbaum (Brittany Gaul), who goes by
her Hebrew name Daphna as if it were a calling card for her sanctimony. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She believes that her connection to her
faith and heritage makes her the rightful heir of a religious relic left behind
by her just-departed grandfather.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The <SPAN
style="COLOR: #333333">gold ornament – a chai that the grandfather kept safe
during his years in a concentration camp – is in her cousin Liam’s (Kyle Huff)
possession.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
chai has only sentimental value for Liam, who is a contemptuous and secular
Jew.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He and his s</SPAN><EM><SPAN
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; BACKGROUND: white; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><FONT
face=Calibri>hiksa </FONT></SPAN></EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">girlfriend,
Melody (Gabi Shook), arrive late for the funeral by the time they enter Liam’s
younger brother Jonah’s <SPAN style="COLOR: #111111">Upper West Side studio
apartment, where they are confronted by Daphna. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Lacking
the family gene for <SPAN style="COLOR: #111111">hyper-articulate
</SPAN>confrontation, Jonah (Nate Miller) wants nothing more than to be left out
of the discussion about who should get the chai. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">All
this is a recipe<SPAN style="COLOR: #1d1d1b"> </SPAN>for a battle royale between
cultural and religious Judaism; a heated, take-no-prisoner debate about what
faith means to many third-generation Jewish-Americans.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And both Daphna and Liam make
interesting arguments.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Says
the <SPAN style="COLOR: #333333">formidable</SPAN> Daphna: “</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">And
so now, when it's easier to be Jewish than it has ever been in the history of
the world, now when it’s safest, now we should all stop? <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I can’t.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Says
the uptight Liam:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">“I’m
sorry, but I can't get worked up about preserving a totally watered down version
of something that wasn’t even true to begin with, and I’m not going to allow it
to dictate how I live my life or who I choose to live my life with so I can
genetically or biologically pass on something I don’t even believe
in.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">And
by having this debate take place in one scene in one act in one room between two
very intelligent but emotionally stunted cousins, we see what happens when a
philosophical and political argument turns into something personal.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Better
yet, because the debaters possess an arsenal of insight into each other’s
soft-spots and pressure points – garnered from a lifetime of sitting at the
kid’s table at family gatherings for the high holidays – all the baiting,
bickering and biting results in nonstop comedy.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">But
not so much on the Actors’ Summit stage.</SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"></SPAN> </P><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: #111111"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">For more of this review, go to:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT><A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3
face="Times New Roman">http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>