WASHINGTON, D.C.: Theater J has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring seven productions.
“These are terrific plays that celebrate and grapple with the human experience, and will have universal appeal to a wide range of theatergoers throughout the metropolitan area,” said artistic director Adam Immerwahr in a statement. “As a collection, this season is uniquely suited for Theater J and our mission to celebrate, examine, and explore Jewish identity, values, and morality. I am thrilled to present them with D.C. audiences in my inaugural season at Theater J, as we welcome the entire community to Theater J.”
The season will begin with Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Schwartz (Sept. 7–Oct. 2), about a dysfunctional Jewish family hanging on to their religion and culture to keep the family together. Immerwahr will direct.
Next up will be The Christians (Nov. 16–Dec. 11), by Lucas Hnath, about a pastor who delivers a sermon that rocks the foundation of the church and its worshipers. Gregg Henry will direct.
Following will be Oy Vey in a Manger (Dec. 20–18), by The Kinsey Sicks, a Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet show about five women trying to sell off their manger before it is foreclosed.
The season will continue with Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen (Jan. 5–29, 2017), about the historic meeting of German physicist Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr in 1941. Eleanor Holdridge will direct.
Sarah Treem’s The How and The Why (Feb. 15–March 12, 2017) will be next, about an up-and-coming evolutionary biologist who wrestles for the truth with an established leader in the field on the eve of a prestigious biology conference. Shirley Serotsky will direct.
Next will be Brighton Beach Memoirs (April 5–May 7, 2017), by Neil Simon, about a young boy in Brooklyn dreaming of girls, playing for the Yankees, and becoming a writer. Matt Torney will direct.
The season will conclude with Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass (June 14–July 9, 2017), about a woman who has mysteriously become paralyzed from the waist down, and her husband who can’t figure out why. The play is set in Brooklyn throughout the rampage of Kristallnacht in 1938.
Theater J, founded in 1990, is a program of the Edlavitch JCC of D.C. and produces thought provoking plays and musicals that celebrate Jewish culture.
