who solicit a customer using rhyme; and "Wash and
Dry," involving a woman's trip to the laundry.
The short plays, a tribute to Silverstein, who died
in 1999, run through Nov. 18 at the Atlantic
Theater Company, (212) 239-6200.

• Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh is a musical comedy
inspired by the song of the same name by the late
Allan Sherman.
Written by Doug Bernstein and Rob Krausz, the
show is about the lifelong relationship between
Barry Bockman and Sarah Jackman — from birth
and summer camp (Camp Granada) to their mar-
riage, life in suburbia and retirement in Florida.
Performances run through Nov. 18 at the Triad
Theater, (212) 239-6200.

• Songs of Paradise is the centerpiece of the
Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre's 86th season.
A satirical retelling of the Book of Genesis, the
musical play is spoken and sung in both English and
Yiddish, and based on the poetry of the Yiddish
bard Itsik Manger, the centennial of whose birth this
production honors.
Directed by Avi Hoffman, Songs of Paradise fea-
tures a score by Rosalie Gerut and a book by
Miriam Hoffman and Rena Borow.
The production runs through Dec. 23 at Theatre
Four, (212) 239-6200.

• Wonder of the World, starring Sarah Jessica
Parker, is a comedy about Cass, an unhappily mar-
ried woman, who, after learning about a secret her
husband is keeping, heads on a journey to expand
her life's experiences.
Along the way, she comes across a wacky group of
people, including a suicidal alcoholic who wants to
go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, a sea captain and a
weird helicopter pilot.
The production runs through Jan. 2 at the
Manhattan Theater Club, (212) 581-1212.

Open-Ended Runs

• The Shape of Things, starring Jewish actors Paul
Rudd and Rachel Weisz, is an Off-Broadway play
about the relationship between a young artist and
the museum guard she befriends.
Written by Neil LaBute, The Shape of Things poses
these questions: How far would you go for love, for
art? What price would you pay?
The production is at the Promenade Theatre,
(212) 239-6200.

• tick, tick ... BOOM! was written by the late compos-
er-playwright Jonathan Larson, six years before his crit-
ically acclaimed musical Rent hit Broadway by storm.
It's a story about his life as a struggling artist living in
Soho, and was written as he was turning 30, waiting
tables. Sadly, Larson died of an aneurysm just before
the debut of Rent. He never knew of his own success.
tick, tick ... BOOM! is at the Jane Street Theatre,
(212) 239-6200.

• Urinetown is a critically acclaimed musical about
greed, corruption, revolution and love that moved
from Off-Broadway to Broadway in a very short time.

Set in a futuristic city, the plot involves the deple-
tion of the earth's water supply that has led to a gov-
ernment-enforced ban on private toilets. The privi-
lege to urinate is regulated by an oppressive monop-
oly that charges citizens for the privilege of flushing.
A janitor, who falls in love with the daughter of the
monopoly owner, leads a revolt against the system.
Performances are at the Henry Miller Theater,
(212) 239-6200.

In this comedy, Simon focuses on the patrons,
who hang out at the restaurant and munch on pota-
to latkes. But despite their close proximity to the
theater district, the characters often are miles away
from making it on Broadway.
The comedy stars Lewis J. Stadlen (see sidebar),
Marian Seldes, Louis Zorich and Rebecca Schull,
and is directed by Jerry Zaks.
45 Seconds From Broadway opens Nov. 11 at the
Richard Rodgers Theater, (212) 307-4100.

Opening Soon
• 45 Seconds From Broadway,

• 2001: A Space Mishegas is a multimedia extrava-
ganza featuring puppeteers, musicians and young
actors.
The production, mostly in English with some
Yiddish, is geared to families and includes elements
of audience participation.

Neil Simon's 32nd
play, is set in the eatery of the Edison Hotel, located
right in the heart of Manhattan's bustling theater dis-
trict. Known as the "Polish Tea Room," it is frequent-
ed by producers, actors, writers, comics and tourists.

Angels To Afghans

Tony Kushner's new play, "Homebody/Kabul," promises to be
as provocative as his award-winning 'Angels in America."

LINDA BACHRACK

Special to the Jewish News

p

ulitzer Prize-winning
playwright Tony
Kushner is no stranger
to controversy, nor does
he shy away from it. His millenni-
al epic, Angels in America, con-
cerned "the struggle between reac-
tionary and progressive interpreta-
tions of what this country is sup-
posed to be," says Kushner.
In Angels, Kushner set out to
write about his community --
gay men in New York during the
Reagan years. What resulted was a
polemic about AIDS. It's a tough
act to follow.
But Kushner — complicated,
politically passionate, ideological
and a left-wing pundit — has
written anew play, the impor-
tance of which may surpass his
previous epic.
Homebody/Kabul begins previews
on Nov. 30 at the New York
Theater Workshop (NYTW). It's a
four-hour-plus meditation on clash-
ing cultures. Kushner frames the
play "in terms of American policies
in Afghanistan," according to
Howard Halle's interview with the
playwright for Time Out New York.
"It's not like anything I've writ-
ten before," Kushner told Halle.
"It's about a political situation,
but it's also about grieving and
mourning. In some ways it's a
very personal play."
Homebody/Kabul is the story of

Though Kushner has never actu-
a London housewife and the
ally been to Afghanistan ("They
aftermath of her chance
wouldn't let me in," he told the
encounter with an Afghan man.
New York Times. "It's the gay thing
The first hour is a monologue.
or the Jew — I don't know, there
The woman talks about her life,
was something they didn't like"),
and reads passages from an old
he has studied its his-
guidebook about
tory and is both con-
Afghanistan's
cerned about and fas-
4,000-year history.
cinated with the
In the second act,
country.
which opens in
"Afghanistan is a
Kabul, the woman
country people sort
has turned up dead;
of famously fall in
the action follows
love with," he said in
her husband and
the Times interview.
daughter as they
"I stole bread for
search for her body.
my starving family. I
Says NYTW artis-
stole bread from a
tic director Jim
starving family," says
Nicola, "Essentially
Tony Kushner on
the Afghan refugee
what you have is a
"Homebody/Kabul":
living in London in
portrait of the
"In some ways it's a
Homebody/Kabul.
impossibility for
very personal play"
Kushner's bitter-
cultures to really
sweet tale of globalism
regard each other."
ponders the crucial questions of the
A longtime friend of Kushner's
who read the script last December day, according to the L.A. Times:
What is the nature of the West's
called it "scary, it's so prescient."
relationship to Afghanistan and to
Kushner began a Sept. 22 inter-
view in the Los Angeles Times with a ruling body such as the Taliban?
Can America truly claim innocence
these words:
lost, given its own foreign policy
"I'll give you a line from the
play. An Afghan woman is talking entanglements?
"If Americans begin to realize
to a British woman about
the interconnectedness of things
American support for the Taliban
through even something as horri-
in the early days, by way of
Pakistan. She says, 'If you love the ble as terrorism, then perhaps we
can start to realize the world is a
Taliban so much, why don't you
complicated place and we can
bring them to New York?' And
tackle the question of our place in
she says, 'Well don't worry.
the world," says Kushner. ❑
They're coming to New York.'"

T

wo

11/9

2001

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