A fierce, biting comedy about family, faith and what you choose to believe, when you’re chosen, the Alex Theatre, St Kilda presents the Australian premiere of Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews for a limited season from 2 September 2015.
A beloved grandfather has died and a treasured family heirloom with religious significance is up for grabs in the Feygenbaum family. But who is most deserving of it? Bossy, overbearing, fanatically religious Daphna, who swears she is the most devout Jew in her family? Her wealthy, less observant cousin Liam, who’s just returned from skiing with his non-Jewish girlfriend, Melody? Or Jonah, Liam’s brother, who would prefer not to get involved in the fight?
A cramped Manhattan apartment becomes the setting for a viciously hilarious quarrel about family, faith and legacy as the contenders set at each other’s throats on the night after the funeral.
Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production to transfer to the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). The play was a sell out at the Ustinov Studio in Bath when it made its UK premiere earlier this year, earning huge critical acclaim and recently selling out its London season at the St. James Theatre.
A graduate of the Playwrights Program at Juilliard, Joshua Harmon is under commission from Roundabout Theatre Company and the Lincoln Center Theater. His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor’s Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has also received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation.
“I’m thrilled and very moved that Bad Jews is traveling halfway across the world to Australia,” says Playwright Joshua Harmon. “The play is about a family living in New York, but it’s my fervent hope that what makes the play specific is actually what makes it universal, and that the questions the play raises will speak to audiences in Melbourne.”
“You’ll be consistently impressed by this fast and funny, pungent and poignant comedy by Joshua Harmon.” – New York Daily News
Director: Gary Abrahams Featuring: Maria Angelico, Anna Burgess, Simon Corfield, Matt Whitty Designer: Jacob Battista Lighting Designer: Katie Sfetkidis
Bad Jews
The Alex Theatre, 135 Fitzroy Street, St. Kilda
Season: 2 – 13 September 2015 (previews: 27 August – 1 September)
Bookings: 1300 795 012 or online at: www.ticketek.com.au
For more information, visit: www.alextheatrestk.com for details.
Image: Maria Angelico, Matt Whitty, Anna Burgess, and Simon Corfield feature in the Australian premiere of Bad Jews – photo by Jeff Busby