Arts & Entertainment

A Search For Justice

In new JET production, playwright Naomi Ragen
champions the voices of women who normally have little say.

Pho to by Yacov Fay t lin

Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

W

omen's Minyan, a play about an Orthodox
wife and mother combating domestic abuse,
dramatizes a true story that could resonate
with similarly victimized women in any ethnic group.
At the same time, its local presentation is part of
increasing efforts by the Detroit Jewish community to
draw attention to the issues and help resolve problems
like the ones spotlighted in the theater piece.
The Jewish Ensemble Theatre will stage Women's
Minyan March 18-April 13 at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield. Written by playwright Naomi
Ragen, who was born in the United States but relocated to
Israel, the drama had a five-year, sold-out run at Habima,
the national theater of Israel.
The Michigan run is supported by a grant from the
Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit,
which also is supporting an emerging organization,
Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse.
Ellen Yashinsky Chute, chief clinical officer of the
Jewish Family Service and a JCADA organizer, will
moderate a discussion of the play, its impact and the
addressed issues after the first performance on March 18
and also will speak, with Rabbi Marla Horsten of Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield, on April 10. In all, about a
dozen speakers have been lined up to discuss the play and
its issues following various performances.
"Evil only flourishes in the dark, and this play illu-
minates a dark secret;' says Ragen, also a novelist who
almost simultaneously was asked to write a play for
Habima and met the woman who morphed into the main
character, Chana.
"Wry religious people came to the theater for the first
time to see the play, and I believe that when people are
willing to listen and learn, then change can occur.
"I also believe that we need to form partnerships to
correct these kinds of problems, and the play has been a
springboard for discussion and change. I hope the people
who see Women's Minyan in Michigan will write me at my
Web site (www.naomiragen.com ) and let me know their
reactions to it."
In the drama, Chana, a mother of 12 and wife of an
ultra-Orthodox rabbi, is denied the right to see her chil-
dren because she fled her abusive husband. After getting
a court order that would reunite mother and children, the
woman encounters angry resistance from other women,
family and former friends and asks 10 of them to hear
her side before passing judgment, which she vows to fol-
low.
"This is a journey of courage as the woman fights for
her children and her right to be [recognized as] a single
entity:' says director Shauna Kanter, a New Yorker working
in Michigan for the first time. "It's about fundamentalism
and what can happen with that mindset, regardless of

Inga Wilson and Henrietta Hermelin in Naomi Ragen's Women's Minyan

culture."
Kanter, whose career started with acting in regional
theater and soaps and has included playwriting, wants
productions such as this one to break the cycle of silence
that prevents abuse victims from seeking help. She also
hopes audiences will see this as a story about a family
finding compassion, understanding and the ability to
forgive.
Karen Kron, a Livonia resident who grew up in
Michigan and spent many years in Chicago experimen-
tal theater, feels honored to play the part of Zehava, a
Sephardic Jew who helps the main character.
"The other women make up lies to explain why Chana
left;' says Kron, who graduated from the University of
Detroit Mercy and has done a staged reading for JET.
"I hope women in the audience will connect with the
characters that may be different from themselves as they
explore how change can be made possible if people band
together"
Evelyn Orbach, JET artistic director, will be reaching
out beyond the Jewish community to bring people of
other ethnic groups into the audience and draw more
attention to the abuse issue through the play.
Many of the women involved with Women's Minyan,
including Orbach, also appeared in the recent presenta-
tion of The Vagina Monologues, which was sponsored by
the National Council of Jewish Women Greater Detroit
Section as part of a worldwide effort to fight abuse. Chute
also had a small speaking part in that presentation.

"We want to make sure that any Jewish family expe-
riencing abuse can get services in the Detroit area;' says
Chute, who points out that abuse occurs in marriages that
have endured for many years and in relationships of teen
couples who have not known each other very long.
"I have counseled women who have been subject to
abuse, and the goal is to empower them. We have worked
in secret with those who cannot afford to pay for services.
"Our newly formed organization, JCADA, has repre-
sentatives from 45 agencies and organizations (including
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, B'nai B'rith
Youth Organization and Orthodox synagogues) and is
modeled after a similar organization in Chicago."

❑

Women's Minyan will be presented March 18-
April 13 at the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield. Preview week performances
are 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, March 18-20,
and 5 p.m. Saturday, March 22. Opening night is
8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 22. Regular perfor-
mances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, March 26 and
April 2, and 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 9; 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays, March 27 and April 3,10; 5 and 8:30
p.m. Saturdays, March 29 and April 5,12; and 2
p.m. Sundays, March 30 and April 6,13. $18-$39.
Discounts available for seniors and students and,
when available, $18 rush tickets one hour before
performances. For ticket reservations and group
sales, call (248) 788-2900.

March 13 • 2008 C11

