Co-stars Evan Roberts, left, Jerry Callaghan, centre, and Carl Powell in rehearsal for Bema Productions’ presentation of Perseverance, April 22 to May 3. (photo by Becca Elliot)
Jerry Callaghan and Andrea Eggenberger (photo by Becca Elliot)
Bema Productions in Victoria presents Perseverance, by L.E. McCullough, from April 22 to May 3. The play is adapted from the 2019 memoir One Holocaust Survivor’s Journey from Poland to America, written by Melvin Goldman and his daughter, Lee Goldman Kikel. It brings to the stage a timely story of healing and renewal.
Few visitors to the G&S Jewelry Store in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighbourhood during the 1960s and 1970s were aware that the cheerful proprietor, Melvin (né Mieczyslaw) Goldman, had spent his teens enduring the horrors of Auschwitz before arriving in postwar America as a penniless refugee intent on reclaiming his life and reshaping his family’s destiny. The play depicts Goldman’s irrepressible spirituality and unflagging love for humanity as he worked to replace darkness with light, one piece of handcrafted jewelry at a time.
Angela Henry and Jerry Callaghan (photo by Becca Elliot)
Bema Productions’ mounting of Perseverance stars Jerry Callaghan, Andrea Eggenberger, Carl Powell, Angela Henry and Evan Roberts. All performances take place in Bema’s Black Box Theatre at Congregation Emanu-El. For tickets ($25), go to ticketowl.io/bemaproductions.
Tyrell Crews and Emily Dallas in Dial M For Murder, mounted by Theatre Calgary in 2025. Crews and Dallas reprise their roles in the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production now playing at the Stanley until March 8. (photo by Trudie Lee for Theatre Calgary)
What do a latch key, a handbag, a compromising letter, two blackmail notes and an unexpected telephone call have in common? They are the primary clues in what is supposed to be the perfect murder – you know, the one you get away with. This is the premise for the Arts Club Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary co-production of Dial M for Murder, now playing at the Stanley.
Frederick Knott’s 1952 play was adapted for cinema early on, with the 1954 thriller starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland directed by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. About six ago, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher updated the story to add a contemporary and surprising twist. While the 1950s London setting has been preserved, giving it that quintessential British vibe, the cheating wife’s lover is now a woman – definitely a taboo to audiences of that era. Hatcher has also injected comedic moments and witty bon mots into the script, in contrast to the more noirish original.
This is not a murder mystery where the sleuthing detective ultimately exposes the culprit. In this iteration, we know from the beginning what the plan is, how it is to be executed and by whom – the only question is whether the perpetrator will get away with it.
It all starts when Tony Wendice (Tyrell Crews) discovers that his heiress wife, Margot (Emily Dallas), is having an affair with murder mystery writer Maxine Hadley (Olivia Hutt). Since he married Margot for her money, not love, he has no qualms about doing away with her to inherit her fortune. However, he does not want to do the dirty deed himself, so he blackmails a distant acquaintance from his past, Lesgate (Stafford Perry), to carry out the hit. Unfortunately, the plan backfires. Enter Chief Inspector Hubbard (Shekhar Paleja) of Scotland Yard, who, with Maxine’s assistance, attempts to recreate the murder scene to ferret out the mastermind behind the plot. But will they succeed?
Tony is front and centre of the narrative. At the beginning, he is in full control of the situation, callously planning the murder with painstaking attention to the details. He takes the art of manipulation to new heights. As his plan starts to unravel, we see the layers of his confidence peel away.
Crews commands the role of Tony and Perry ably portrays Lesgate’s nervousness and angst in confronting Margot with the news that he is about to kill her. Dallas, who portrays Margot in a rather subdued fashion initially, is sublime in her portrayal of the hunted housewife, taking the audience on a melodramatic roller-coaster ride of emotions. Flamboyant Hutt infuses the character of Maxine with intelligence, charm and sleek sophistication, and comes across as the smartest person in the room.
It is a testament to the abilities of these actors that such a small cast can pull off the highs and lows of this psychological thriller. They are assisted in this feat by a talented design team, including Jewish community members Itai Erdal, whose pinpoint lighting directs the audience’s attention to significant clues during scene breaks, and Anton Lipovetsky, whose sound design increases the suspense.
Then there is set designer Anton deGroot’s revolving turntable stage. All the action takes place in the Wendices’ sparsely furnished drawing room, which slowly and imperceptibly moves back and forth, providing the audience with different perspectives of the action and emphasizing the fluidity of the story. Even the walls and windows move, providing additional layers to the puzzle.
Jolane Houle’s costumes capture the essence of the stylish 1950s, elegant frocks for the ladies and tailored suits for the gents, all with colour palettes ranging from brown to blue to green that change with Erdal’s lighting. The ladies are perfectly coiffed and made-up à la that glamorous era. Jillian Keily directs her crew well.
This dialogue-dense production requires the audience to pay attention and focus on the various subtle clues that are dropped to determine if indeed Tony gets away with his deception and betrayal. It’s a cat and mouse game at its finest.
Dial M for Murder runs to March 8. For tickets, go to artsclub.com or call 604 687-1644.
Tova Kornfeldis a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.
Lorin Sklamberg, left, Sasha Lurje and Craig Judelman close the 10-day festival of comedy, music, theatre, dance and storytelling on Nov. 23 with Yiddish Songs of Social Change. (photo from Chutzpah! Festival)
The Chutzpah! Festival returns for its 25th anniversary with a mix of festival favourites and new discoveries in a lineup of performances Nov. 12-23, showcasing music, theatre, comedy, dance and storytelling through a multicultural Jewish lens.
“This Chutzpah! Festival is one of collaboration and celebration, combining past artistic managing director Jessica Gutteridge’s vision and my own,” said the festival’s new artistic managing director, Shayna Goldberg. “Chutzpah!’s legacy over the last 25 years has been to share diverse work from a multitude of Jewish perspectives, and the offerings this year are just as thrilling and exciting as any other. For 10 days this November, come and experience the best of what Canadian and international artists have to offer.”
Israeli-American comedian Modi Rosenfeld brings his Pause for Laughter Tour to Vancouver on Nov. 12 to open the festival. (photo from Chutzpah! Festival)
The festival opens Nov. 12, 8 p.m., at the Vogue Theatre with Modi Rosenfeld, presented in partnership with MRG Live. The Israeli-American comedian brings his Pause for Laughter Tour here for the festival.
Erik Angel, also an Israeli-American comedian, brings his project Comedy for Peace to Chutzpah! on Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein Theatre. Aimed at uniting communities through humour and mutual understanding, Comedy for Peace brings together stand-up comedians – Jewish, Christian, Muslim – for a show of “no politics. just laughs.” Joining Angel will be Ashley Austin Morris, Natan Badalov and Zara Khan. (See jewishindependent.ca/comedy-can-unite-and-heal.)
Chutzpah presents the West Coast debut of 8 Gays of Channukah: The Musical (Canada) at the Rothstein Theatre Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. Blending Broadway-style musical numbers with comedy, drag artistry and Jewish joy, eight stories are brought to life by show creators Gila Münster, Sarah Freia and Yan Simon. The show includes an opening act by a local artist and there will be an 8 Gays of Channukah Shuk, featuring the work of local artisans, where you can pick up some gifts for the holidays.
Lea Kalisch’s Shtetl Cabaret (Switzerland/United States/Canada) is a night of collaborations featuring Tobias Moss and local Vancouver artists including Mike Braverman and Jason Overy. This show, which takes place Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m., at the Beaumont Studios (19+ venue), presents Jewish music, from forgotten melodies to original songs, and mashups from rap to rumba and folk to feminism.
Yiddish Songs of Social Change (United States/Germany/Latvia), presented by the Golden Thread Septet, explores Yiddish music as a tool for and reflection of social change, and features Lorin Sklamberg and Sasha Lurje, with arrangements by Craig Judelman. Judelman has arranged the Yiddish and English songs in a style that reflects the context of the songs themselves and honours the centuries-old tradition of using all these influences to inform the creation of new Yiddish music. In addition to the performance on Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein, Sklamberg, Lurje and Judelman will lead a free workshop about Yiddish music and dance that same day, at 2 p.m. Come explore both traditional and contemporary versions of Yiddish music and learn how you can dance along.
Back by popular demand, Chutzpah! and Vancouver Opera present Ne. Sans Opera & Dance’s Take This Waltz: Celebrating the Music of Leonard Cohen (Canada/Israel). This operatic and contemporary dance performance inspired by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was originally presented in 2022 as a Chutzpah! Plus event. Created by local choreographer Idan Cohen and bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, it features Okulitch alongside dancer/musician Ted Littlemore and a virtuoso live ensemble of strings and accordion. Take This Waltz is at the Rothstein Theatre Nov. 15 and 16, 7:30 p.m. (See jewishindependent.ca/celebrating-leonard-cohen.)
On Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein Theatre, Chutzpah! presents the North American premiere of Common Place (Australia/Israel) by power-duo dancer/choreographer Omer Backley-Astrachan and multiple-award-winning dancer Jana Castillo. Common Place is a physical exploration of belonging and togetherness, delving into shared action, collaboration and synchronization.
Deb Williams returns to Chutzpah! with the Flame, an evening of storytelling, on Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein Theatre. The Flame is a grassroots series where real people share their personal, true stories in front of an audience under Williams’s direction. This edition will feature a multicultural group including Karen Segal, Dhana Musil and others. Williams will also host an in-depth weekend workshop prior to the event (Nov. 15 and 16, at the Post at 750) to help storytellers hone their craft.
On Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein, Chutzpah! presents I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce (United States), a one-man show exploring the life and battles of one of the most groundbreaking comedians of all time, Lenny Bruce. Created and performed by Ronnie Marmo and directed by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna, this show threads Bruce’s original comedic bits with insights from his writings.
Other workshops and talkbacks with festival artists, facilitated by members of the Vancouver arts community, will run throughout the festival. Visit the festival website for updates and registration information.
Most single tickets for Chutzpah!’s live performances are offered at a pay-what-you-will price, with the levels at $18, $36, $52 and $70 (+ gst/sc). I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce is $40 (students/seniors), $54 (general) and $72 (VIP) (+gst/sc). ChutzPacks are also available, for $136: see four different regular-price shows of your choice. Tickets for Modi can be purchased through admitone.com/events. For tickets to any of the performances and more information about any of the events, visit chutzpahfestival.com or call 604-257-5145.
David Bloom, left, and Richard Newman share two different roles in Western Gold Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s Here We Go, which is at PAL Studio Theatre until May 25. (photo by Colleen Bayati)
“I love Caryl Churchill – she is quirky,” actor Rosy Frier-Dryden told the Independent. “She makes you think, makes you work. You can’t just rely on lines! You have to bring her lines to life.”
Frier-Dryden co-stars in Western Gold Theatre’s production of Churchill’s Here We Go, which centres around a funeral. Director Kathryn Bracht describes the work as “a deceptively simple, 45-minute exploration on death and dying that is a surrealist meditation wrapped up in her crafty, clever dialogue.”
For the run at PAL Studio Theatre, which goes to May 25, Frier-Dryden is joined by fellow Jewish community members David Bloom and Richard Newman in the cast, which is rounded out by Bernard Cuffling, Kate Robbins and Peihwen J. Tai.
“Without giving all of the storyline away, the general structure of the play is that it’s in three parts: a funeral scene; a monologue scene, where the deceased speaks; and a final scene without words,” explained Newman.
“We did our first runs today, and it’s quite remarkable how the three scenes build on each other to explore relationships with aging and death,” added Bloom. “It’s startlingly funny and weirdly moving.”
Bloom and Newman share roles, as do the other actors: Frier-Dryden with Robbins, and Cuffling with Tai.
“In half of the shows, I am on stage in the first third playing one of five people attending a funeral,” said Newman. “In the other half of the shows, I play the subject of the funeral, the guy who died, who has a lengthy monologue – six pages of script, to be precise. This monologue is brilliantly written – emotional, scary and, always, funny. Quite a challenge, but such a great scene to play.
“Because of Churchill’s writing and Kathryn Bracht’s direction, each actor has a lot of leeway to interpret their lines and define their characters. Like me, David will have his own interpretation of both roles, and we’ve agreed not to watch each other, so we’ll not be influenced by the other – we’re developing our characters independently. Each of us rehearses alone in the room with the director.”
Frier-Dryden also spoke enthusiastically about the latitude the actors have in this play.
“The most marvellous thing is, you are allowed to create your own character, based on what Caryl Churchill writes and the freedom she gives you,” said Frier-Dryden. “In the first scene, I am playing a character that is older and a big personality. She is a Londoner, upper class, and lives in Eaton Square with a vast array of friends. She had an affair with the guy whose funeral we are attending. In the final scene, she is ill, has dementia and she is slipping away. She and her husband have come to terms.”
Rosy Frier-Dryden’s character in Here We Go had an affair with the man whose funeral the characters have come to attend. (photo by Colleen Bayati)
“Caryl Churchill is quite simply a remarkable playwright,” said Western Gold Theatre artistic director Tanja Dixon-Warren. “She has an extraordinary command of language and deep understanding of human nature. Her work is very reminiscent of Pinter and Beckett, in that the text is pared down to its absolute essentials. There is nothing extraneous or gratuitous.
“She has a distinctive, truly singular approach to writing,” Dixon-Warren continued. “Very often there is no punctuation, and lines are not assigned to specific characters, thus allowing the director and actors to find multiple stories and characters within the piece – knowing that they will bring their life experience to the work. This requires that the director, actors, designers really dig into the play, to find all the nuances and be very, very specific about what they are saying. Her material is, essentially, just the beginning of the conversation.”
It certainly has the actors thinking beyond the play and about their own lives: Bloom is 65, Newman is 78 and Frier-Dryden is 90.
“I find myself being grateful for being alive and still being able to move around under my own power,” said Bloom, who commented that the monologue “is both a marathon and a sprint” in which he immerses himself every bus journey, so he’s physically and emotionally exhausted at the end of each day.
“I think about my parents a lot,” he added, “because the play reminds me of their last years and the different ways they faced bodily decline and death. There’s a scene I’m not in that brings up heartbreaking memories of my father’s last years. But, mostly, I’m so delighted to be working on such a beautiful piece of writing with a group of wonderful people, many of whom are even older than I am.”
“You start to think about what’s really important, what I want to do with whatever is left of my life,” said Newman, who has lost many friends in the last year-and-a-half or so.
“What strikes me most strongly is that I am enjoying being here and am looking forward to sticking around to enjoy life as best as I can, as long as I can,” he said. “I consider myself fortunate – I run, work at keeping my body as healthy as I can – and believe my mind will follow…. This play kind of dovetails with my life and the issues and experiences that arise, the things I’m doing and how I’m dealing with life at this age. It’s a kind of serendipity to be in this play.
“At the end of the day,” said Newman, “I’m reminded that life is a gift, a miracle. I have my work, friends both young and old, family. I’m blessed.”
Here We Go also resonates with Frier-Dryden, who recently lost a family member.
“I have lived through the deaths of many, especially recently, and I think of this play and its themes … all the time,” she said. “I am not just going to rehearse – I am going with the knowledge that someone dear has died, and I can send them off and honour them. I love that every day I think of the person I loved, and he is gone, but not gone.”
“Here We Go features some of the best actors in Vancouver,” concluded Newman. “This will be unlike anything you’re liable to see in the Vancouver theatre season! I hope people will come to the show to watch our performances.”
“When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse’s sharp nose, a mouse’s tail, a mouse’s whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old, he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too – wearing a grey hat and carrying a small cane. Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed out of four clothespins and a cigarette box.”
So begins EB White’s classic children’s story Stuart Little, which was published 75 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, Carousel Theatre for Young People is presenting the play Stuart Little, which was adapted from White’s book by Joseph Robinette. Jewish community members Advah Soudack and Stephen Aberle are part of the production, directed by Carousel Theatre artistic and managing director Jennica Grienke, at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11.
Soudack and Aberle take on multiple roles, including as Stuart’s parents. Castmates Melanie Yeats and Megan Zong also play several parts, while Katrina Teitz plays the title role.
Advah Soudack in a table read of Stuart Little, which will be presented by Carousel Theatre for Young People at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11. (photo by Kezi Jacob)
“I was so excited when Jennica called me to offer me the role of Mrs. Little,” Soudack told the Independent. “I knew being part of Stuart Little would be wonderful and the fact that music was being added to the story made me even more jazzed! I love being part of theatre for young audiences, as I think it is so important for children to get the chance to witness and experience live theatre. I have very fond memories from the theatre productions I saw as a child and I know they were part of what inspired me to be an actor myself.”
“I loved the book when I read it as a child, and the approach taken by this production sounded like fun,” said Aberle of why he wanted to be a part of it. “I have a long history with Carousel, going back to the ’80s and including many years both touring to schools throughout BC and performing at the Waterfront, so it’ll be fulfilling to come back and perform here with the company again. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with director Jennica Grienke in the past, and I’m looking forward to renewing that connection. Finally: it’s work! And I love to work.”
Aberle has performed in Carousel’s Scrooge, Macbeth, Dream Castles, The Taming of the Shrew and other productions over the years. Soudack was in The House at Pooh Corner, directed by Kim Selody, in 2020. “Unfortunately, COVID shut us down, so we didn’t get the chance to finish our run with Carousel, nor did we get to remount with Presentation House,” she said.
In preparation for the play, Soudack re-read Stuart Little, a book she read as a child – “and I remember loving it and putting all this effort into a very detailed title page for a book report I wrote … putting a lot of effort into drawing Stuart Little and trying to get him just right.”
Not only did Aberle read the book – “and Charlotte’s Web, another favourite by the same author” – but he read it “a number of times and loved it.”
“It’s interesting,” he said, “to re-read it now with grown-up eyes and see things I’d forgotten: Stuart’s pluck, and his enduring quest to reconnect with his bird-friend Margalo, for example.”
Stephen Aberle in a table read of Stuart Little. (photo by Kezi Jacob)
For Aberle, the enduring messages include: “Don’t give up on your dreams – and don’t pout and sulk when things don’t quite go the way you’d planned! Don’t be a pushover, and don’t be a jerk either. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to love who you love. Everyone – including animals, both human and non-human – matters, deserves respect and has their part to play.”
“I feel that the relevance of the story in today’s world is to not fear differences in one another and to not judge each other by our appearance or stature,” said Soudack.
“The part of the story that I particularly like is how everyone accepts Stuart without judgment or fear,” she said. “His parents love him for who he is and everyone he encounters takes him at face value, shows him respect and treats him like an equal.”
Aberle’s favourite part is Stuart driving off into the north, searching for his love, Margalo.
Rehearsals hadn’t started when the Independent spoke with Aberle and Soudack, so they couldn’t say exactly what playing more than one part would be like, but they explained their process.
“I usually approach playing different roles by working with different character bodies and vocal placement. I like to work off of a first hit that I get from reading the script and various characters and build from there. Some of the roles we get to play are animals, so that will be fun!” said Soudack.
Aberle said “one of the most interesting things about playing several characters is finding the characteristics that distinguish them so that one can step quickly and surely into their shoes – or, in some cases, paws. Vocal qualities, gestures, mannerisms, all that kind of thing.”
Neither actor approaches a performance for younger audiences differently than they do other shows, though both pointed to some differences.
“Children’s theatre is usually quite playful and energetic and requires a different way of storytelling,” said Soudack, “so I keep that all in mind when I start my prep and enter the rehearsal hall.”
“Younger audiences can sometimes be more upfront in their responses, which can teach everyone – actors, directors, playwrights, everyone – a lot,” said Aberle. “Back in the day, when shoemakers moved from laces to Velcro for young people’s footwear, we used to talk about discovering the ‘Velcro moments’ – when the youngest audience members, sitting cross-legged in the front row on the school gym floor, would start to play with the Velcro on their shoes, peeling and re-fastening it, and the sound would fill the air. Usually, these were ‘author’s message’ moments – when the script stopped being the story of the interplay between the characters and started becoming a moral. Young audiences can smell a moral approaching from a mile away, and they have little patience for it. (That’s probably true for older audiences as well, but they’ve grown better at hiding it.)”
The creative team of Bema Productions’ staging of Rite of Passage, with director Zelda Dean (centre). (photo from Bema Productions)
Victoria’s Bema Productions is staging Rite of Passage, a story of family, grief and coming of age by Los Angeles-based playwright Izzy Salant, at Congregation Emanu-El’s Black Box Theatre March 19-30.
The play centres on Harold, an autistic youth preparing for his bar mitzvah. His mother is suddenly absent and others are not sharing with him why she is not there. Harold’s father struggles with whether he should tell Harold the truth.
“The complex and incredibly human characters go through terribly hard times, yet handle it with grace and humour, even when things are in turmoil and the stakes are high,” Dean told the Independent.
At a young age, Jesse Wilson, who plays Harold, became involved in the local theatre scene that worked with the Victoria Society for Children with Autism. Noticing his passion for the arts, his mother encouraged and supported him in taking classes and performing.
Wilson appeared in Bema’s 2019 production of O My God, in which he played the autistic son of the lead character. He has also performed with a Victoria-based summer Shakespeare company.
“Because autism presents in such a diverse way, depending on the individual, I worked closely with Jesse, who is on the spectrum, to ensure that we portrayed the character in an honest way,” Dean said.
Salant, who will be in Victoria for opening night, said the play follows his family’s story. His mother died by suicide in 2007, and he had written extensively about the experience and his grief. But, he said, he had not explored his family’s grief as well.
“I sat down with my father and aunt for around six hours in the fall of 2016 and, later that same year, I wrote the first draft of the play in a playwriting class as a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,” Salant, a journalist and social media manager at Jewish News Syndicate, told the Independent.
Rite of Passage playwright Izzy Salant. (photo from jns.org/writers/izzy-salant)
At the time, the play was called From the Point of View of a Journalist. Several drafts later, it became Rite of Passage. After numerous workshops and rewrites, the work remains focused on the central premise of how to move forward amid grief.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Salant and his writing partner, Ryan Dunn, posted Peace Talks on New Play Exchange, a digital library. Written in 2019, the play explored the Arab-Israeli conflict and how it extended to college campuses.
Shortly afterward, Dean reached out to them asking about rights. Bema performed the piece on Zoom and, later, live at the Victoria Fringe Festival in 2022.
“My working relationship with Zelda has been amazing and she’s served not only as an amazing confidant and director, but mentor,” Salant said. “So, when I told her about Rite of Passage, she was overjoyed. She watched a live reading of it via Zoom back in 2022 and told me she wanted to do the play, and, three years later, after many rewrites and discussions, here we are.”
The first full reading of Rite of Passage took place at the University of Massachusetts in 2018, and Salant produced it the same year. During the pandemic, he met Noah Greenstein, an actor and theatre producer from Boston, and sent him the script. Punctuate4, a company for which Greenstein associate produced, liked the script and organized different readings throughout the United States.
Regarding the Victoria production, Salant said, “I’ve been incredibly involved from a writing standpoint. I’ve had almost weekly calls with Zelda about what’s working, what may need to be tweaked, rewritten, etc. The script has gone through around three draft changes from the time Zelda told me she was going to perform it this season to the show that you’ll see live.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Zelda for putting on this production, as I am to Punctuate4 for all their work, in part because numerous other theatres in my career have told me they loved the play but don’t know if they could realistically stage it, somewhat because Harold is autistic.”
Besides Rite of Passage and Peace Talks, Salant has written Balagan, The Scenic View and Unrequited. He also has penned several short plays and one-act plays, including 2082, which follows two best friends on a road trip to New Mexico in the aftermath of a breakup. It premiered in 2023.
Currently, Salant is putting together a piece titled Catatonic, which his friends have called “Zionist Angels in America.” It’s a two-part play about the post-Oct. 7 world and Salant’s experience covering it as a journalist.
Salant is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Alliance of Jewish Theatre. He is a graduate of the Kennedy Centre Playwriting Intensive and an Abby Freeman Artist in Residence at the Braid, a nonprofit Jewish literary organization in Santa Monica, Calif.
“I consider myself a Jewish artist through and through. Judaism is a core of my identity and I never want to shy away from expressing it,” Salant said.
Tickets for Rite of Passage can be purchased through the Bema Productions website at bemaproductions.com.
Sam Margolishas written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.
Mitch and Murray Productions’ presentation of Heroes of the Fourth Turning co-stars, left to right, Jennifer Clement, David Kaye, Elizabeth Barrett, Aaron Craven and Nyiri Karakas. (Shimon Photo)
This is a story about the interesting and intersecting balance of faith, peace, politics, sex, sexuality, deceit, forgiveness and mysticism with the modern world. How do we grapple with the changing self, while clasping hands with those we no longer align with, but feel we must commune?” said Mitch and Murray Productions’ Kate Craven about Will Arbery’s play Heroes of the Fourth Turning, which has its Western Canadian premiere Jan. 31-Feb.9 at Studio 16.
“It’s about letting go of preconceived notions,” she said. “It’s about being wrong, even when convinced otherwise. It’s complex and startling and astonishing and I truly think it is one of the great plays of this generation.”
Heroes of the Fourth Turning has won multiple awards and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In it, reads the synopsis, “four young conservatives have gathered to toast the newly inducted president of their tiny Catholic college – one week after the Charlottesville riots in 2017. Their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and clashing generational politics, becoming less a celebration than a vicious fight to be understood.”
“The play’s title is a take on the book The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which hypothesizes the cycles of history and attempts to teach us how to live through these cycles via examples from past generations,” explained Craven, who is the theatre company’s board chair and operations manager. “They base their hypothesis on the past 500 years of American history and uncover what they deem as a distinct pattern: that modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life and each composed of four times 20-year eras, aka ‘turnings’ that comprise history’s seasonal rhythm of growth – maturation, entropy and rebirth. Otherwise broken down as the High, a period of confident expansion, followed by the Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then, the Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Finally, the Crisis (the Fourth Turning), when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history, a specific time that requires a generation of heroes to rise up, resolve crisis and reset imbalances created in prior turnings.
“The Fourth Turning was written in 1997, at the tipping point between Gen X and the Millennial generation,” said Craven. “It references the Fourth Turning being in line with the coming of age of Millennials, a generation which three of the play’s characters fit into.”
One of those characters is played by Jewish community member David Kaye.
“I play a Catholic man in his late 20s named Kevin who is currently experiencing tremendous crises of identity and faith while struggling with alcohol abuse,” Kaye told the Independent. “A graduate of the Transfiguration College of Wyoming, Kevin received wilderness training, learned to scale mountains, ride horses, build igloos, memorize poetry and speak conversational Latin. Initially believing that he was being groomed to become ‘a leader of the world,’ Kevin has realized that he was woefully underprepared to actually live in the real world.”
While the character is drunk for most of the show, he is the only one asking questions, said Kaye. “He is often the butt of the joke but, ultimately, I think Kevin is the wise fool. Kevin wants so badly to connect with other people, regardless of their political leanings or religious affiliations. He wants to have hard conversations and expand his mind and is open to new ideas; unfortunately, he is not the greatest conversationalist.”
The role has certainly expanded Kaye’s mind. Having attended Vancouver Talmud Torah and King David High School growing up, the actor said “all of the knowledge of Catholicism I have is from pop culture, so building my character’s world has involved quite a lot of reading in theology and philosophy that I was completely unfamiliar with. As far as being a Jewish actor in the context of this play, I think that Kevin is actually the easiest character for me to identify with because he is constantly questioning things, and that was a core part of my Jewish education and exploration.”
Craven, who is also Jewish, “had the unique experience of growing up in a bi-faith family, one half Jewish, the other Pentecostal Christian.”
“It’s a difficult thing to belong to a family unit which falls on both sides of the faith divide and subsequently (often) political divide,” she said. “Perhaps this prepared me for a play like Heroes of the Fourth Turning. I find myself reaching for empathy for these often confused, sometimes wildly misguided characters and that makes this play very uncomplicated and uniquely human.”
She added that it feels like Arbery, the playwright, “is managing a perilous dance between faith, violence, truth and real-world events as his characters evolve and devolve in front of us. It feels much less about faith, religion and belief than it does about the crisis of being human. That’s relatable no matter who youare or which people you belong to.”
“This show can be viewed through many different lenses and each one will have a different takeaway,” said Kaye. The play will “ruffle some feathers,” he said. “But, if you are open to it, this is a show that will provoke thought, challenge perceptions, and might make you question the world around you.”
For Kaye, that is one of the main things he has learned from the character he is portraying – “that it is OK to question everything you have ever known to be true. It may be ugly and uncomfortable, but challenging your beliefs can lead to more authentic connections and a more fulfilling life.”
Craven said Mitch and Murray Productions’ goal has always been to present “bold, smart pieces that require the audience to be willing participants in the discourse and discussion. Our hope is that our productions showcase what it is to be a complex, imperfect human, as opposed to being a human who fits into a specific political, religious or cultural box, the aftermath of which potentially opens us up to empathy and understanding instead of division and despair.”
Set in rural Wyoming, Heroes of the Fourth Turning references hunting, there is a prop rifle on stage and gunshots are heard throughout the play. Other warnings include the use of coarse language and “heavy political debates which cover a range of difficult topics,” said Craven. “With this in mind,” she encourages people to come to the play with “a spirit of open-mindedness and an attitude of willingness – to see, hear and learn. All of which hearkens back to what I mentioned earlier about the plays Mitch and Murray attempts to produce – stories about a conflicted and imperfect humanity. We may not be able to see ourselves uniquely and specifically reflected in these characters, but there is certainly a reflection of humanity that is profound and deeply moving.”
Stories, she said, have “the capacity, when told well, to move and shape our molecules in a unique way. If we can be even a small part of creating compassionate debate, then we’re doing our job.”
Clayton Lee explores his childhood obsession with Jewish professional wrestler Bill Goldberg in his The Goldberg Variations, which is at Waterfront Theatre Jan. 30 (photo by Kenneth Koo)
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival runs Jan. 23-Feb. 9. This year’s run marks the festival’s 20th year.
PuSh 2025 features more than 25 presentations, including 20 original performance-based productions; five animated parties and cabaret-style events; two film events; and two artist residencies, one of which will culminate in an open studio showing by international guest artists. In addition to a strong Canadian presence, with 13 presentations, the PuSh Festival includes works by artists of Belgium, South Korea, Brazil, United Kingdom, Uruguay, France, Denmark, Italy, Taiwan, the United States, Sweden and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Among the many presentations this year are at least two with a Jewish angle.
On Jan. 30, 9 pm., at Waterfront Theatre, The Goldberg Variations by Clayton Lee (Canada/United Kingdom) will have its Western Canadian premiere, with a talkback following the show.
Through an unapologetic investigation of desire, power dynamics and identity, Lee explores his childhood obsession with Jewish professional wrestler Bill Goldberg and the impact it has had on his sexual and romantic history. The perplexing crossroads between dominance, submission, heartbreak and vulnerability are laid bare in this candid and unconventional performance where fantasies are both indulged and deconstructed.
Rebecca Margolick is part of Dances for a Small Stage, Feb. 4 and 5, which showcases 10 experimental, short dance pieces by femme and non-binary artists from different generations and dance practices. (photo from PuSh)
On Feb. 4 and 5, 6:30 p.m., at Please Beverage Co., Jewish community member Rebecca Margolick is part of Dances for a Small Stage. Presented by PuSh Festival and Small Stage, the event showcases 10 experimental, short dance pieces by femme and non-binary artists from different generations and dance practices. The other artists participating are Claudia Moore, Cori Caulfield, Jessica Dawn Keeling, Nasiv Kaur Sall, AJ Simmons, Nicole Rose Bond, Burgundy, Ray Young, Adreane Leclerc and Bettina Szabo. There is a post-show talkback Feb. 5.
Other highlights for the 2025 PuSh include BOGOTÁ (Jan. 31 and Feb. 1) by Montreal’s Andrea Peña & Artists, which constructs a brutalist landscape from choreography inspired by Colombia’s political and spiritual heritage, and Dimanche (Feb. 6-8) by Belgium’s Focus and Chaliwaté companies, which paints a sharp yet tender portrait of humanity caught off guard by devastating natural disasters.
PuSh 2025’s animated parties and cabaret-style events include Van Vogue Jam’s Dune Wars Kiki Ball (Feb. 2), opening and closing parties with surprise performances, and the return of the frank theatre’s QT Cabaret at Club PuSh (Jan. 29).
Rounding out the lineup will be two film events: a free marathon screening featuring Brazilian actress Renata Carvalho, the artist behind PuSh’s Transpofagic Manifesto (Feb. 9), and a Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden) film screening (Feb. 6).
The festival’s Industry Series for arts leaders (producers, presenters, curators, directors, and more) returns for 2025, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2. PuSh, in partnership with Playwrights Theatre Centre and Festival TransAmériques, will also offer free artistic consultations for local artists with invited national and international dramaturgs.
Ticket prices for most PuSh shows range from $15 to $39. Visit pushfestival.ca or call the PuSh Festival info line at 604-449-6000.
Peter Carlone, left, and Tim Carlson in Pacific Theatre’s production of The Hobbit (photo by Chelsey Stuyt)
Need a break from reality? On now at Pacific Theatre is The Hobbit, based on JRR Tolkien’s book, with all its adventure, wizardry, fantastical creatures, and more. The tale is brought to life by two actors “and a dragon’s hoard of theatre magic.”
A world premiere, Pacific Theatre’s The Hobbit was adapted by Kim Selody, with additional dialogue by Tim Carlson and Peter Carlone, the two actors who play multiple characters in the production. The Jewish Independent spoke with stage manager Julia Lank before the show opened on Nov. 15.
“We’re less than a week into rehearsal and already our performers, Tim and Peter, have made me tear up laughing with their creative solutions,” said Lank when asked what her most fun problem-solving moment had been so far. “Telling a story designed for dozens of characters with just two actors poses obvious challenges, and the entire team – including our designers – have jumped in with both feet,” she said. “The room is incredibly playful (this morning we were testing out rolling beer can ‘barrels’ down the aisles of the theatre) and our director, Laura [McLean] is also keeping the magic and wonder of Middle Earth at the forefront. The show is going to be full of surprises, and it feels great to be a part of creating something new together.”
Julia Lank, stage manager of The Hobbit. (photo from Pacific Theatre)
Lank is a self-taught stage manager, though she does have a degree in film production and worked as a first assistant director for several years, which, she said, is the film world’s equivalent of a stage manager.
“Stage management is one of those niche jobs that won’t be on a high school career counselor’s radar, but it’s perfect for me – a mix of technical theatre magic, caretaking, and lots of spreadsheets,” she said. “If you’re interested in how the theatrical sausage gets made and you’re unflappable, stage management might be for you.”
Lank’s recent credits include other Pacific Theatre (PT) productions (Gramma and The Cake), as well as Tuck Everlasting (Arts Umbrella), On Behalf (Fringe), L’Elisir d’Amore (Burnaby Lyric Opera), Jasper in Deadland (Awkward Stage) and City of Angels (the PIT Collective), among others.
“I worked as PT’s marketing assistant and later marketing director from 2017 to 2023,” she said. “I left last June to pursue stage management full-time, but I consider Pacific a theatre home and love the work and people there dearly. I’m also a self-taught marketer, but it’s easy to advocate for an artistic space when you genuinely believe in the work they’re doing. Many of my favourite theatre experiences, both behind the scenes and as an audience member, have been at PT.”
How she prepares for a new project differs, but, in general, she said, “I like to familiarize myself with the script and score well before a show begins so I can anticipate areas that may need extra support or take more time to come together. The director will be doing this work, too, and you want to be in the best possible position to help themexecute their vision. And you definitely don’t want to be in a position where you didn’t realize there was going to be a live goat onstage until the first read.”
A good follow-up question would have been whether Lank was referring to The Hobbit when talking about an acting goat, but the JI missed that opportunity. Instead, we asked about how The Hobbit fits into Pacific Theatre’s aspiration “to delight, provoke and stimulate dialogue by producing theatre that rigorously explores the spiritual aspects of human existence.”
“Tolkien was famously opposed to religious allegorical readings of his work, but the Pacific Theatre community has a fondness for his work that stems from his personal religious background,” explained Lank. “Regardless, if you’re a person of faith or not, I think the values of compassion, the rejection of greed and needless violence in favour of communal care and quiet contentment and imagination in this interpretation of the story make Hobbit a perfect PT show.”
As for Lank, she was raised in the local Jewish community and attends Or Shalom.
“Judaism honours my curiosity and taught me that questioning a system can only improve it,” she said. “My Jewish identity calls me to care for the vulnerable, stand up for communities whose voices have been suppressed, and honour the natural world. It’s very important to me.”
Turning back to less serious matters, Lank said of The Hobbit: “It’s going to be a marvelous, silly, scary adventure – you’ll be very welcome to join us in the Shire.”
The Hobbit runs to Dec. 21 at Pacific Theatre. Performance times are Wednesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; and Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. For tickets, which start at $20, visit pacifictheatre.org or call 604-731-5518.
Saul Rubinek in Mark Leiren-Young’s Playing Shylock, which is playing in Toronto. Leiren-Young wrote the work with Rubinek in mind. (photo by Dahlia Katz)
Victoria playwright Mark Leiren-Young spent October in Toronto, where his Playing Shylock is appearing at Berkeley Street Theatre through Nov. 24. The one-man show, which stars Saul Rubinek, is based on the Jewish character in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
“I’ve been attending rehearsals, run-throughs and previews as a playwright,” Leiren-Young told the Independent from Toronto before the play’s world premiere. “That means I’m around to work on the script with the actor and director. Since it’s a new script, that means I’m adjusting it to reflect ideas that come up in rehearsals, working with the costumes, the designs and the space. Really, anything that needs doing to get the script as tight and right for the actor and the production as it can be – making sure ideas are clear, jokes land and that Saul is having as much fun as possible.”
Mark Leiren-Young (photo by Jeffrey Bosdet)
Leiren-Young’s play Shylock first appeared on stage at Bard on the Beach in 1996. Playing Shylock, he said, is an all-new play with the same core premise: a production of The Merchant of Venice has been canceled in mid-run due to a controversy over the production.
“This is a bespoke piece that started during the COVID lockdown and I built it around Saul’s life experiences after studying his voice, his personal history, his greatest roles, his mannerisms,” Leiren-Young said. “This was written to sound like Saul and feel like Saul and not like a character or story created by me.”
In fact, when actor John Huston, who starred in multiple productions of Shylock, touring five provinces, asked Leiren-Young what was recognizable from that first play, the playwright responded, “The lines that Shakespeare wrote.”
“Beyond keeping some of Shylock’s best lines from Merchant of Venice, this is an all-new play because we’re in an all-new world,” said Leiren-Young. “And it’s a new world in so many ways. Think about how controversies played out before social media. Think about how the issues in theatre and society have changed, and the issues the Jewish community is facing.”
According to Leiren-Young, the original draft of Playing Shylock was completed a couple of years ago. Yet, he tries to update his plays to reflect current circumstances.
“This script always included a cancelation letter inspired by an actual cancelation announcement,” said Leiren-Young. “The original draft for Playing Shylock was inspired by a letter announcing the cancelation of a screening of the controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer about a decade ago.”
The letter now, he said, is largely inspired by the decision of the Belfry Theatre in Victoria to cancel its January production of The Runner after protesters demonstrated and vandalized its property because they objected to a play about an Israeli volunteer with the Orthodox group ZAKA.
“Not just because it’s more current, it’s Canadian and more relevant to the times,” he said, “but because that letter appeared to be used as the template for canceling another play at a theatre across the street from the Belfry.”
Rubinek, a distinguished stage veteran, is widely known to film and television audiences. To name but a few of his credits: Wall Street, Barney’s Version, Frasier. This past June, the Globe and Mail placed Rubinek in the 25th spot on its list of the greatest Canadian actors of all time.
“I believe that if the people who made that list see this show, they’ll want to bump up his ranking by a fair bit. Watching Saul deliver Shakespeare’s lines is amazing. Watching Saul deliver my lines is a dream,” Leiren-Young said. “He’s 76 and he’s better on lines than any other actor I have ever worked with.”
Of the play, Rubinek said Leiren-Young “leaps into the historic controversy about the character of Shylock with gleeful relish and biting humour and then has the chutzpah to create a poignant study of why theatre should matter.”
The actor added, “To collaborate with on a new play – and I’ve done a lot of them – Mark is an actor’s dream: tirelessly inventive, generous, creatively stubborn in all the right places and, best of all, funny.”
This weekend, on Nov. 10, 2 p.m., at Victoria’s Congregation Emanu-El, Leiren-Young will give a talk about Playing Shylock, his original play Shylock, the character of Shylock, the impact and history of The Merchant of Venice and “anything else the audience that day wants to talk about.”
The author of numerous books, Leiren-Young is the only writer to win the Leacock Medal for Humour (Never Shoot a Stampede Queen) and the Science Writers and Communicators Award for Canada’s best science book (The Killer Whale Who Changed the World).
Leiren-Young’s Sharks Forever is a non-fiction book for middle-school readers and features an introduction by environmental activist Paul Watson. His next book, Octopus Oceans, is being released in early 2025. He is currently working on a new book for young readers focusing on how to protect the oceans and the animals who live there.
