James Sherman’s play is an interesting piece that deals with issues of personal identity.
It is 1977 the town of Skokie in Illinois America had a large population of Holocaust survivors. A neo Nazi group decided it wanted to hold a march down its main street. The local Jewish population were in uproar They lobbied the authorities in an attempt to block the march taking place. The dispute was held up in legal channels.
Isaac Adams was a Jewish journalist who responded personally to the issue. It sparked something inside of him. He had never seriously looked at his Jewishness, at least not since his barmitzvah He had even married a non Jewish woman. Though he was brought up in a jewish family he never felt particularly jewish.
The play sees Isaac go on a long and difficult journey to find out what it means to be jewish.
It’s a journey that distances him from his wife Shelly who feels that he has become neurotic and obsessed
Isaac is always receiving letters from Chaya, a woman who he was always close to growing up. Maybe if it doesn’t work with Shelly he might have a chance later with Chaya.
Amongst Isaac’s other issues Isaac he has big jewish mother problem His mother is always interfering in his life She is in the audience during the play, often calling out during the play
The way that the play has been written is that Issac has written a play about his life and he is in the process of performing it having cast himself in the lead role. Sometimes during the play his mother calls out and freaks out the actors performing the roles and they have to walk away because they are so upset.
During the play Isaac asks a number of people what it means to be Jewish including a rabbi, a tailor, a Holocaust survivor and a Hasid even late in the play, his father. We also have his issues played out with well known scenes from plays and films such as On The Waterfront, the Wizard Of Oz, My Fair Lady and Huck Finn.
A lot of the action revolved around scenes with his wife as the landscape of their marriage shifted dramatically and more significantly unhappily.
The play raised a lot of issues and was quite an emotional night What also made the show special was that the play had a lot of humour in it.
One quibble. There were some incorrect pronunciations of jewish terms- bubba meaning grandmother came out of Isaac’s mouth as barba! Hopefully that will be corrected.
THE GOD OF ISAAC was directed by Moira Blumenthal The way that the back curtain deftly opened to introduce the different staged/dream/commentary sequences worked very well.
The performances were good. Lloyd Allison-Young deftly played the likeable, searching, neurotic Isaac.
Alexis Fishman played Chaya with a lot of sensitivity and her character goes through quite a journey. Fishman played a number of other roles very competently.
Claudia Ware gave an appealing performance as his wife Shelly who also goes through quite a journey from a happily, newly wed woman to a women wondering why in the hell did she marry Isaac.
Tim McGarry did well playing a number of different ‘small’ roles including playing Isaacs father, a Holocaust father, his Rabbi and a tailor.
Anna Byron was again, as ever, good in her role as Isaac’s ever forceful as mother. She even gets to take her place on the stage at one point.
Does Isaac finally connect with his jewish identity? You will have to see the play to find out.
Verdict A funny, playful, authentic night at the theatre, How best to describe it?! It was a bit Woody Allen in its introspective and comic style. Well worth a visit.
THE GOD OF ISAAC plays the Eternity Playhouse until Sunday 22nd September, 2019.
Featured image : Tim McGarry and Lloyd Allison-Young in ‘The God Of Isaac’. Pics by Blumenthal Photography
http://www.darlingursttheatre.com.au