Plays Reflect Contemporary American Jewish Experience

The annual Sheldon J. Streisand Festival of New Jewish Plays returns July 12 with a four-week series of staged readings at the Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism.

“The plays are being done with scripts in hand, with minimal props and technical values,” said Streisand Center Artistic Director Susan Merson. “The focus is on the actors and the text.” In terms of theme, the common denominator is the contemporary American Jewish experience--with emphasis on the word “contemporary.” “We’re honoring and commemorating the past,” she noted, “but also making sure that we’re moving on.”

Merson believes that nostalgia shows like “A Night in the Catskills” (at Hollywood’s Las Palmas Theatre) primarily reflect and address a previous generation. “But what about me? What about you? How do we hook into what we are? If you look around, you see a lot of ‘neurotic’ Jewish plays, often about family problems--or the overly sentimentalized immigrant experience--or the Holocaust, presented so horrifyingly that we can no longer ingest it. There are other things that interest me as a Jew and a person.”

The festival lineup, she feels, reflects that agenda--and the balance between dramatic and light themes: “I want to develop plays that define us today --in the present and future. We’re no longer immigrants; we’re a strong economic and political group. So how do we interact with the community? How do we fit into this big salad bowl? Aside from China, the Middle East is the hottest place in the world. There are skinheads; Black-Jewish issues are coming back.”

They are issues, she thinks, that both Jews and non-Jews ought to face. “No matter how assimilated we think we are, these things are important. There’s also an obligation of the Jewish community to appeal to a broad audience. And certainly these are basic philosophical, moral and ethical questions that don’t just relate to us. Theater’s role is to address those things. It’s central to who we are and how we define ourselves.”

The theatrical lineup begins with Salome Jens and Philip Baker Hall in Donald Freed’s “The White Crow: Eichmann in Jerusalem,” on the Nazi war criminal and an Israel psychologist assigned to interrogate him the night before his trial. Gerald Hiken, who originated the Adolf Eichmann role at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1984, directs.

Next up: the premiere of “Naim,” Nola Chilton’s adaptation of the A.B. Yehousah novel “The Lover.” Said Merson: “It’s about love, how important it is to let it penetrate your soul--and how difficult that is for Israel right now. It seems to have lost touch with its feelings, its ability to feel; it’s caused them to be on a collision course with disaster.” Directing is Stephen Sachs.

The following Wednesday, science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison will appear in a trio of comedies adapted from the short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Bernard Malamud. The pieces: “Fate,” “The Magic Barrel” and “The Jewbird,” which will feature Bob Baker and a life-sized marionette.

Last up: Gordon Rayfield’s “Bitter Friends,” on the Jonathan Pollard spy case. Merson said, “It’s a political dissection--whose loyalty is best for whom.” And on July 16, Wilshire Blvd. Temple offers a free presentation of “Born Guilty: Interviews With the Children of Nazis,” adapted by Gina Blumenfeld from the book by Peter Sichrovsky.

For ticket information, call (213) 466-1767. The University of Judaism is at 15600 Mulholland Drive.

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Also upcoming this month: John Patrick Shanley’s tough-talking “Danny And the Deep Blue Sea” goes fishing for true romance, opening July 13 at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center in Hollywood.

Playwright Jerry Mayer (“Almost Perfect”) takes a familial cruise to Leningrad in the autobiographically inspired comedy “Aspirin And Elephants,” opening July 14 at the Santa Monica Playhouse.

For kids: Van Nuys’ Back Alley Theatre presents the premiere of Will Holt’s and Dion Alden Holt’s musical adventure “Max and Zoey, Zoey and Max,” opening July 16.

The 12th annual Padua Hills Playwrights “Festival of Plays” begins July 20 at Cal State Northridge’s Art & Design Center. On Program A: Susan Mosakowski’s “Cities Out of Print,” Martin Epstein’s “The Ordeal of Nancy Fergusson,” John Pappas’ “Increments of Three” and Alan Bolt’s “Amado Amor.” On Program B: Maria Irene Fornes’ “Oscar And Martha,” Julie Hebert’s “Almost Asleep,” Leon Martell’s “Kindling” and a new work by John Steppling.