WASHINGTON, D.C.: Theater J has announced its 2018-19 season, which will be presented at different venues throughout the city, as its home venue at the Edlavitch DCJCC undergoes renovation.
Artistic director Adam Immerwahr, in a statement, also explained that the mobile season will be beneficial to each production, saying: “I’ve truly never seen anything like The Pianist of Willesden Lane—and when the opportunity came up to offer a production at a venue known for top-tier music and arts, it was an immediate fit. Actually dovetails beautifully with Arena Stage’s commitment to searing engagement of contemporary American political issues, and being at lovely GALA Hispanic Theatre for our December slot, I knew that we wanted a beautiful classic of the Jewish theatre like Talley’s Folly.”
The season will open with The Pianist of Willesden Lane (Sept. 12-30), adapted by Hershey Felder from the book by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. The play is about the true and inspiring story of Lisa Jura, a Jewish pianist dreaming of making her concert at the onset of World War II. Mona Golabek, who is also Jura’s daughter, will star. The show will be performed at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Family Theater.
Next up will be Actually (Oct. 17-Nov. 18), by Anna Ziegler, about two college freshman at Princeton University whose casual hookup turns into a Title IX trial. The production will be presented at Arena Stage. Johanna Gruenhut will direct.
Following will be Talley’s Folly (Dec. 6-31), by Lanford Wilson, a romantic comedy about the unlikely love story between a middle-aged Jewish accountant and an “old maid” in 1944. Aaron Posner will direct at the GALA Hispanic Theatre.
The season will continue with the world premiere of Jacob Gordin’s The Jewish Queen Lear (March 13-April 7, 2019), an English-language adaptation of the 1898 Mirele Efros. In this translation by Nahma Sandrow, the play follows a wealthy widow and clever businesswoman looking for a wife for her son. The production will be presented in partnership with the Georgetown University Theater and Performance Studies Program at the university’s Davis Performing Arts Center.
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.
