Jon Avnet directs
Hank Azaria
as Mordechai
Anielewicz on the
set of "Uprising."
motion pictures and television movies over the last
20 years, including such box-office hits as Fried
Green Tomatoes and Risky Business.
One of his grandfathers was a cantor in the
Ukraine, but Jon was raised in a "traditional
Reform" family in Brooklyn and on Long Island.
Among his most formative memories is attending a
Yom Kippur service as a 7- or 8-year old, during
which the rabbi solemnly recited Yevgeny
Yevtushenko's poem "Babi Yar." It commemorates
the murder of some 100,000 Jews by the Nazis out-
side Kiev.
Avnet filmed Uprising in the Slovakian city of
Bratislava, a 73-day project he described as "very dif-
ficult — physically, emotionally and financially."
The director praised the dedication of the pre-
dominantly gentile cast and crew, who "worked for
very little under tough conditions."
The shoot had some moments of high emotion, as
when Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum, who
served as consultant on the film, led cast and extras
in the singing of "Hatikvah," the Israeli national
anthem.
Avnet originally intended Uprising as a feature
motion picture. There is a good chance, he said, that
Warner Bros., which backed the project financially,
will distribute it in that format to other countries,
including Germany and Poland.
But mainly, Avnet hopes that Uprising will show
the world the courage of many Jews during the
Holocaust. He does not hide his anger at those "who
have inflicted the final indignity" on the Six Million
by drawing a picture of complete Jewish passivity.
"I cannot understand why [historian Hannah]
Arendt perpetuated this image, and shame, also, on the
journalistic community, which has really blown it,"
Avnet said. "This film is a clarion call to (unblow' it."
For the immediate future, Avnet plans to concen-
trate on some light and commercial fare, but he does
expect to return to movies touching on the Jewish
experience.
"I am not a reluctant Jew," he concludes.
Uprising airs 9-11 p.m. Sunday and Monday,
Nov. 4-5, on NBC.
a , sea
"
Timely Tale
JETS "Romeo and Juliet" demonstrates
"how successful an anachronistic adaptation can be.
AUDREY BECKER
Special to the Jewish News
I
r has long been considered
a testament to
Shakespeare's greatness that
his plays — in spite of
their immediate and particular
contexts — can be so
effectively re-imagined
in various times and
places.
Whether it's a Richard III that
occurs in 20th-century Germany,
or a Midsummer Night's Dream
aboard an alien spaceship,
Shakespeare's dramas seem to be
willing participants in our own
ongoing cultural metamorphosis.
The Jewish Ensemble Theatre's
current production of Romeo and
Juliet is a compelling example of
such an experiment. Set in
Palestine under the First British
Mandate in the 1920s, with live
music by Efe Bes, the Montagues
and the Capulets are no longer
feudincrb Italian families, but are
Arabic and Jewish clans in heated
conflict with one another.
The city is not Verona, but
Jerusalem, with a sandstone set
spattered with blood by designer
Monika Essen. The characters
greet not just with "Good
Morrow," but with "Shalom" and
"Salaam."
The production admirably
demonstrates how successful an
anachronistic adaptation can be.
Not only does JET's Romeo and
Juliet remind us that this hatred is
not an archaic curiosity, it forces
us to see the play afresh with all its
contemporary political meanings.
Given the complexity
and magnitude of world
events in the past
months, it couldn't be
more timely. And we completely
reinvest ourselves in the story.
Director Gillian Eaton demon-
strates restraint in her adaptation
of the text. The place-names, of
course, are changed. And certain
appropriate jargon is added. But,
otherwise, the text is a faithful
rendering of the Bard's classic tale
of adolescent love, anguish, blood
and bad timing.
The cast delivers many good
performances and several excep-
tional ones. Henrietta Hermelin
Weinberg is terrific as the Nurse.
She refuses to let the Nurse be the
stock comic sidekick and explores
more fully the depth of the char-
acter. Almost a surrogate mother
to Juliet, the Nurse's intimate rela-
tionship with her teen-aged
charge is both endearinc, and
excessive.
Will Young as Lord Capulet
skillfully vacillates between lov-
able father and oppressive patri-
arch with a convincing dexterity.
And — in what is often a teeny,
throwaway part — Peter Prouty
(who also deserves notice for his
technical direction) renders ser-
vant Peter with impeccable comic
timing.
But what of our young lovers?
Danny Jacobs gives a confident
performance as star-stricken
Romeo, more in love with being in
love than he is with Juliet herself.
What Jacobs does so well is speak
Shakespeare's language with an ear
to the poetry, while at the same
time delivering it with a modern
intonation and clarity He is espe-
cially good in the first act, estab-
lishing Romeo's schoolboy charm.
Maggie Smith is an effective
Juliet, conveying an appealing,
youthful brightness, and the right
kind of naive urgency that is the
essence of adolescence.
JET presents Romeo and Juliet
7:30 p.m. Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays and 8
p.m. Saturdays, with 2 p.m.
matinees Wednesdays and
Sundays, through Nov. 18, at
the Aaron DeRoy Theatre in
the West Bloomfield Jewish
Community Center. $21-
$33. (248) 788-2900.