What: AJT’s First Performance Event

When: Sunday, October 24, 3pm – 4:30pm Eastern Time (12pm – 1:30pm Pacific Time)

Who / Projects (in show order):

• The Braid presents When the Mikvah Water Touches Your Black Hair by Shekhiynah Larks, directed by Susan Morgenstern (USA)
• LABA: A Global Laboratory for Jewish Culture presents Name Game by Sara Felder & Yehuda Hyman (USA, Israel)
• Theatre Ariel presents The Scribe by Jesse Bernstein (USA)
• Nephesh Theatre presents Black Pepper by Aviv Looz directed by Howard Rypp (Israel)
• High School Dybbuk by Shara Feit (USA)

Emcees:

• Ben Rosenfeld, Standup Comedian, Creator of 4 Standup Albums, 2 Books, and a Gameshow
• Michelle Slonim, Standup Comedian, Playwright, Author, and a Worried Jewish Mother

Jesse Bernstein

Shara Feit

Sara Felder

Yehuda Hyman

Shekhiynah Larks

Susan Morgenstern

Ronit Muszkatblit

Ben Rosenfeld

Howard Rypp

Michelle Slonim

AJT Member Tickets: $15 for session ($99 for entire conference)
Non-Member Tickets: $25 for session ($99 for entire conference)
How: Register here for this single event or the entire conference.

Description: Performance excerpts curated by the AJT Conference Committee. The first of three performance events. EVENT 2

This event will be recorded and made available to conference attendees for 3 days via a private link.

The Braid presents When the Mikvah Water Touches Your Black Hair by Shekhiynah Larks, directed by Susan Morgenstern (USA)

In the final stages of her conversion process, a woman considers the requirements of the Mikvah. This brings up questions for her about appearing unkempt, her vanity, and perhaps being rejected for being “not Jewish enough.” Ultimately, she chooses the path that will allow her to realize her authentic self.

The Braid presents an excerpt from the salon show I Am A Jew: When the Mikvah Water Touches Your Black Hair by Shekhiynah Larks which first appeared in Jewish&, a blog by Be’chol Lashon (USA) Directed by Susan Morgenstern. I Am a Jew celebrates the diversity, dreams and dilemmas of today’s Jewish community, featuring stories of identity, belonging, and what it means to be a Jew today.

Artists:

• Shekhiynah Larks, Author, Program Coordinator at Be’chol Lashon
• Susan Morgenstern, Producing Director at The Braid
• Charlotte Williams Roberts°, Actor in When the Mikvah Water Touches Your Black Hair
• Ronda Spinak, Founder and Artistic Director of The Braid, formerly Jewish Women’s Theatre

LABA: A Global Laboratory for Jewish Culture presents Name Game by Sara Felder & Yehuda Hyman (USA, Israel)

A cross-country (Oakland and NYC) performance collaboration between veteran performance artists/writers Sara Felder and Yehuda Hyman on naming, Jewish identity, re-inventing/claiming yourself, and how to do that crazy dance in the Zoom box.

Artists:

• Sara Felder, Oakland-based Playwright and Circus Theatre Artist
• Yehuda Hyman*, Movement Artist, Poet, Playwright and Jewish Faerie Creature
• Ronit Muszkatblit, Theater Director of The Magic Letter, Founding Director of LABA Global

Theatre Ariel presents The Scribe by Jesse Bernstein (USA)

As he struggles to compile the Torah as we know it today, a reluctant scribe in Ancient Jerusalem must confront his doubts, his people’s history, and his longing for the good-old-days of exile in Babylon. Hear the (maybe) true tale of how “in the beginning” really began!

Written and Performed by Jesse Bernstein*
Directed by Deborah Baer Mozes

Nephesh Theatre presents Black Pepper by Aviv Looz directed by Howard Rypp (Israel)

Black Pepper pairs an unemployed and elderly Moroccan puppeteer with an Ethiopian rapper during the pandemic lockdown.

Written by Aviv Looz
Dramaturge Beatriz Hal
Directed by Howard Rypp
Puppets by Maria Gurevich
Set Designed by Zohar Shoef
Costume Design by Shiran Levy
Music by Idan Yitzhayek
Lighting by Noam Toplian

High School Dybbuk by Shara Feit (USA)

As the Yeshiva Day School for Girls’ Drama Society prepares for their upcoming winter production of S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk, stuff starts getting … haunted. So now everyone is wondering, is Lea actually possessed? Is Hana an exorcist, or just weird? And is Lea really going to get married before she turns eighteen? High School Dybbuk is a play about Modern Orthodox day school theatre, best friendship, grief, and doing frum drag as a sixteen-year-old girl.

Directed by Aaron Simon Gross

Cast:

• Rosie Jo Neddy*, Actor
• Delia Cunningham*, Actor, Writer, Director
• Juliet Roll, Actor/Writer
• Alex Chester*, Actor, Producer and Editor-in-Chief of Mixed Asian Media
• Serena Berman*, Actor, Writer, Resident Artist at Ars Nova
• Suzannah Hershkowitz*, Actor
• Jasminn Johnson, Actor

*Artists marked with a * are members of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) the labor union representing American Actors and Stage Managers in the Theatre.

°Artists marked with a ° are members of The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) the labor union representing American film and television actors.

We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions:

ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS
AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS
SAG-AFTRA

through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.

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