LIGHTS.
CAMERA.
JEWS.
This year, I have been granted the privilege of directing the Center for Jewish Life’s annual play. This play, open to the entire university regardless of religious affiliation, is designed to be accessible to Jewish students who, like me, keep the Sabbath laws (no electricity, writing, and other daily work activities from sunset on Friday until sundown on Saturday, yeah, it sounds crazy—but that’s a topic for another post). Because Sabbath restrictions are so expansive, the rehearsals and performances do not take place on Friday night, and the Saturday performance is after sundown.
Because, who says Jews can’t be dramatic, right?
The show typically involves some kind of Jewish theme. This year, I have selected Wendy Wasserstein’s “Isn’t it Romantic,” a show about two twenty-somethings, one Jewish and the other of no religion, as they struggle to navigate relationships, jobs, and the nonstop advice of their overbearing families. Through snapshots of each of their lives, the interplay between traditionalism, progressivism, and the drive toward independence becomes a growing force.
The play, which has been around now for five years, goes up in the spring, which means the audition process is starting RIGHT NOW. And what’s crazy about that is that it will be my first time directing. Ever.
And I’m pumped.