Arts & Entertainment Statue of Spinoza in Amsterdam: Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin, is considered one Spinoza Takes On God of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, laying Will the 17th-century Jewish philosopher be expelled as a heretic, or will Amsterdam expel its Jews? See the next show at JET. the groundwork for the Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, and one of Western philosophy's definitive ethicists. Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News N ew Jerusalem, David Ives' drama examining the excommunica- tion controversy that surrounded 17th-century Jewish philosopher Baruch de Spinoza, has a complicated main character. The playwright explains that the charac- ter is not Spinoza. "The Jewish community is the main character because these people have the most to lose: says Ives, whose play will be performed March 16-April 10 by Jewish Ensemble Theatre in West Bloomfield. "Spinoza can go off and live his life, but the Jewish community — the rabbi, the congregation, family and friends — is faced with losing Spinoza Playwright and shaken by what is Charles Ives clearly a traumatic expe- rience:" The play, subtitled The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation: Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, imagines what transpired in the absence of record when a convocation of Spinoza's temple board is called to question the then 20-something philosopher about his con- cept of God, which is seen as threatening to both traditional Jewish and Christian beliefs. David Magidson, JET artistic director, is directing the production. The cast includes Mitchell Koory as Spinoza, Caroline Price as Rebekah de Spinoza, Loren Bass as Rabbi Saul Levi Mortera, Hugh Maguire as Abraham van Valkenburgh, Phil Powers as Gaspar Rodrigues Ben Israel, Rob Pantano as Simon de Vries and Christina Flynn as Clara von den Enden. "Spinoza is one of the greatest Jewish intellects: Magidson says. "I think audiences will find this action-oriented and will be interested from the first second." Ives explains that a statement made by Albert Einstein inspired the action. "A few years ago, I read that Einstein was once asked if he believed in God, and he answered that he believed in Spinoza's God: recalls Ives, 60, who grew up in Chicago and summered with family in Three Rivers, Mich. "I wondered what that meant and hap- pened to find a book about Spinoza. I real- ized there was a wonderful play to be writ- ten because of the way Spinoza's life and all of Western philosophy changed on one day in 1656." Ives became intrigued by what he consid- ered a Faustian bargain that the Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam had cut with the Dutch authority. The community had religious freedom so long as they made sure nobody was spreading unorthodox opinions that could be inflammatory. "This deal created a situation in which there was no happy outcome to the Spinoza affair because the Jewish community could neither keep Spinoza, who was a favorite son and thought to be the next [chief] rabbi, nor could they happily kick him out," Ives says. "I wanted to explore that relationship." Ives, who has a long history writing the- atrical comedy, won the Outer Critics Circle Playwriting Award for All in the Timing, a group of one-acts that ran for two years Off- Broadway and was the most performed the- ater piece in the country after Shakespeare productions in the 1995-96 season. "While New Jerusalem certainly was a departure from the comedies, I see the time writing it as very happy and won- derfully exciting: says Ives, educated at Northwestern University and Yale School of Drama. "I spent months researching and taking notes but wrote the first draft in about 10 days. "It is more fun to write comedy in the sense that I sit at my writing table and chor- tle more often as I write, but there's a daily intensity in working on drama that is very delightful because of grappling with issues and coming away with something that is more substantial." Spotlighting Jewish characters seems to have evolved naturally for the playwright, whose wife is Jewish and who describes himself as gravitating into many Jewish circles. "I had a couple of important Jewish girlfriends, and everything in life probably comes down to girlfriends;' he jokes. Through his research, Ives learned that Spinoza was charming even though feared in his own time. "That, in itself, is an interesting character to put at the center of a drama about tur- moil: explains the playwright, who devel- oped all of his characters to be implicated in the action. "Spinoza seems to have been simultane- ously humble and arrogant, also a fasci- nating trait combination. He was sort of a Hamlet figure because he was endlessly interesting. I partly wanted to write his drama and partly wanted to meet him." Ives, whose humorous books for young people include Monsieur Eek and Scrib, compares issues in the play to issues of today. "I think that the political tensions in the world with Islam certainly have brought religion to the fore in a way that it hasn't been," says Ives, who recently began writing dialogue in verse. "We see that religious beliefs impinge on social structures in a huge way and are much more intrinsic to the way we live and the future that we face." JET stages New Jerusalem March 16-April 10 at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, March 26-April 9; and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays, March 27-April 10. Other show times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16; 5 p.m. Saturday, March 19; and 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 6. $32-$41, with discounts for students and seniors. (248) 788-2900; www.jettheatre.org . 4ews Alisi I Nate Bloom omit S to the Jewish News 16r, _et 21/2 Mentshen? min Brooke Mueller, 33, Charlie Sheen's estranged wife and the mother of his INK twin 23-month-old sons, filed a peti- tion for a temporary restraining order preventing him from contacting them. In her petition, Mueller laid out his history of domestic violence and drug abuse. She also said Sheen recently sent her a text message Brooke that said: "I must Mueller t 40 March 10 • 2011 execute mark b [Mark Burg] like the stoopid Jew pig that he is." TMZ.com reports this message was sent in February, after Sheen fired Burg as manager. Sheen rehired Burg around March 1 and Burg told TMZ. corn: "Charlie Sheen's ex-publicist, Stan Rosenfield, is Jewish. Charlie Sheen's entertainment attorney, Jake Bloom, is Jewish. Charlie Sheen's litigation attorney, Marty Singer, is Jewish. Charlie Sheen's divorce attorney, Mark Gross, is Jewish. I've known him for 13 years. I don't believe that he actually sent that text [and] for the record, since Brooke Mueller is Jewish that would make Charlie Sheen's two sons also Jewish." I checked a bunch of public records – and Mueller's mother Moira Fiore, 57, born Moira Roskin, is Jewish. Brooke's late father, Allen Mueller, from whom Moira was divorced long before his death, was the son of two Lutheran parents. I have no idea if Brooke was raised in any faith. Brooke has worked as a TV entertainment reporter and is currently described as a "real estate investor." Sheen and Mueller wed in 2008 and filed for divorce last year. Going Green Scheduled to open on Friday, March 11, is the animated 3-D film Mars Needs Moms. Nine-year-old Milo (voiced by Seth Green, 37) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her "mom- ness" for their own young. His quest to save his mom involves taking on the alien leader (Mindy Sterling, 57). Milo is aided by a tech-savvy, underground earth- man named Gribble (Dan Fogler, 34). Sterling is best known as Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil's aide, in the Austin Powers mov- ies. Green played Dr. Evil's son in the Seth Green Powers films.