James Karas
Bad Jews struck me
like a mediocre boxer who runs around the rink to avoid his opponent, throws
punches that do not hit their target or just flails pointlessly with his arms
in a sad attempt at boxing. But in the end, to everyone’s surprise, he lands a
solid hook and knocks out his opponent.
Joshua Harmon does land a punch in the final minutes of the play but we
can’t forget the rest of it where there are all kinds of problems.
Bad Jews is about
three grandchildren who meet after the funeral of their grandfather. They meet
in Jonah’s (Jake Goldsbie) studio apartment in Manhattan. His cousin Daphna
(Sarah Segal-Lazar) is there and she expresses a great interest in getting her
grandfather’s chai.
Jonah’s brother Liam (Jamie Elman) arrives with his girlfriend Melody
(Ellen Denny) and after some time arguing about sleeping arrangements in the
small apartment and looking for alternatives, the issues among the four characters
are joined. The central issue is who will get the chai.
The chai (the word means living or alive) is a gold medallion that was
worn by their grandfather around his neck. When he was taken to a Nazi
concentration camp, he kept it under his tongue for two years. He gave it to
his wife because she gave him life.
Jamie Elman, Jake Goldsbie, Sarah
Segal-Lazar and Ellen Denny
Photo by Leslie Schachter
A few words about the characters. Jonah is a dishrag who tries to stay
out of the conflicts among Daphna, Liam and Melody. He is a nothing, in other
words, until near the end when he does deliver a punch, but it is fortuitous
because it is not in character.
Melody is blonde, pretty, and not too swift with German roots. She is
not Jewish and that makes her an easy target for the religious Daphna who
treats her with contempt largely because she is not Jewish and therefore not
worthy of marrying a Jew.
Liam is a modern Jew who points out some issues one may have with the
Bible. He is an atheist Jew and has a practical approach to Judaism. He wants
the chai and has in fact gained possession of it before his grandfather died.
His loyalty to the family is questionable because he did not come for the
funeral because he was skiing. He makes a mealy-mouthed excuse for his
non-attendance.
The most interesting character is Daphna. She is a devout Jew who wants
to return to Israel and become a rabbi. She is a bitch, to put it politely, and
her opposition to Liam’s proposed marriage to Melody is that it will adulterate
Liam’s Jewish blood. He mercilessly points out to her that she is repeating the
language of the Nazis about racial purity. She attacks Jonah spinelessness,
Melody for her background and Liam for just about everything from not using his
Jewish name (Shlomo), to not attending the funeral, to gaining possession of
the chai under false pretenses.
Bad Jews develops
slowly, very slowly, and it lacks a moral center. The chai is symbolic of deep
faith that sustains life and love under the most horrific circumstances
imaginable. It meant a great deal to their grandfather not just because of how
he kept it under his tongue but also because he gave it to his wife as an
equally powerful act of love. Daphna despoils even that by offhandedly
referring to her grandmother as a bitch.
I will not disclose what happens in the final minutes of the play when there
is a type of resolution after about an hour of less-than-exciting development, when the plot comes to life.
The actors do their job and they do it well. If you need someone to
represent a bitch, just call Sarah Segal-Lazar. She plays with her hair to the
point of distraction and in her ferocious devotion to Jewishness, her attack on
her cousins and Melody she is, well, one king-size bitch.
Goldsbie, Elman and Denny play well against her and each other and director
Lisa Rubin does the best she can with the play.
In the end, the grandchildren of the Holocaust survivor are not so much
bad Jews as unworthy heirs to the strength, faith and love represented by him
or of a play, for that matter, that does not do justice to him.
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