WASHINGTON, D.C.: Theater J has announced its 2017-18 season, featuring six plays.
“At divisive political times, we turn to art to help make our voices heard, to help us understand, to help us come together, and to help us heal,” said artistic director Adam Immerwahr in a statement. “Theater J’s season is full of life-affirming and powerful stories of resilience, joy, humor, and strength.”
The season will kick off with Nilo Cruz’s Sotto Voce (Oct. 3-29), about a young Cuban man’s research into the fate of the S.S. St. Louis, a ship of Jewish refugees that fled Nazi Germany. José Carrasquillo will direct.
Next up will be The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Nov. 29-Dec. 31), by Alfred Uhry, about a group of posh German Jews preparing for their annual lavish country club ball called the “Ballyhoo” in 1939. Amber McGinnis will direct.
Following will be Everything Is Illuminated (Jan. 11-Feb. 4, 2018), adapted by Simon Block from the book by Jonathan Safran Foer, about a young man who sets out to find the woman who might have saved his grandmother from the Nazis. Aaron Posner will direct.
The season will continue with Mark St. Germain’s Becoming Dr. Ruth (Feb. 21-March 18, 2018), a comedy about a woman who flees the Nazis and becomes America’s favorite sex therapist. Naomi Jacobson will star, and Holly Twyford will direct.
Next will be Karen Hartman’s Roz and Ray (April 3-29, 2018), a medical drama that documents a devastating chapter of medical and queer history. Immerwahr will direct.
The season will close out with Trayf (May 30-June 24, 2018), by Lindsay Joelle, about a man who lives a double life as a foot soldier by day and a roller-skating, disco-dancing, rock-n-roll fan by night. Benjamin Kamine will direct.
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.
