arts & entertainment
The Forum:
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Special events enhance the Stratford experience.
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
B
arry Avrich has filmed Stratford
Festival productions, including
The Tempest, to be shown in
movie theaters.
Stratford, this season, will be spot-
lighting an independent film Avrich
directed, and it will be part of "The
Forum" programming, in this case to
supplement plays with Jewish themes.
An Unlikely Obsession: Churchill and
the Jews will be shown at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 10, at the Stratford
campus of the University of Waterloo.
It will be followed by a discussion with
Avrich and producer Michael Levine.
The film, based on a book by Martin
Gilbert, examines the ways in which
Churchill became an ally of the Jews
and includes commentary by Gilbert,
Churchill family members and attorney
Alan Dershowitz. The cost is $20.
"While so many countries were turn-
ing away from the Jews during the
Nazi reign, Churchill embraced them,"
Avrich says. "He was often a lone
voice, but he was very influential.
"It was fascinating making a film
about that time period, and I believe
the documentary is very appropriate
as the Stratford Festival addresses
issues of tolerance through many of its
plays.
"This film hasn't been seen outside
of Canada yet, so I'm glad it is being
shown to the large [international]
Stratford audience. I'm also glad to
lead a discussion because great per-
formances should be about discussion
and debate."
Other Forum programs with Jewish
content or related to Jewish-themed
productions of Fiddler on the Roof and
The Merchant of Venice, arranged by
date, include:
May 31: Adam Gopnik: Shakespeare
and Feasting
A staff writer for the New Yorker gives
his thoughts as a meal is served; $75.
June 14: Dark Lullabies
Canadian filmmaker Lilienheim
Angelico presents her documentary on
the Holocaust; $20.
June 16 and Sept 21: ARC Ensemble
Concerts
In June, Simon Wynberg, artistic direc-
tor of Toronto's Artists of the Royal
Conservatory Ensemble, introduces
a program with the theme "Tradition
and the Jewish Composer," exploring
the Russian-Jewish musical roots of
Fiddler on the Roof. The September
concert will examine music suppressed
by fascist regimes to inform the pro-
duction of The Merchant of Venice,
which will be set in 1930s Italy.
June 23 and Sept. 21: Israeli Folk
Dancing
Learn dances that the grandchildren of
the characters in Fiddler on the Roof
might have done at their weddings. No
observers, please; $15.
July 11 and Aug. 2: Fiddler on the
Roof: Song and Dance
Company members teach a song and
dance from Fiddler on the Roof. No
observers, please; $30.
July 12: Marlis Schweitzer: Breaking
with Tradition: Fiddler on the Roof
and the 1960s Generation Gap
Schweitzer is an associate professor
of theater at Toronto's York University;
free.
July 14: Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies
and the American Dream
Film captures lives of men who found-
ed the movie industry; $20.
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Aug. 1: Astrology and Shakespeare:
The Secret Key to The Merchant of
Venice
An Unlikely Obsession screens July 10.
With Priscilla Costello, counseling
astrologer; free.
Aug. 21: Anti-Semitism and The
Merchant of Venice
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Panel discussion explores issues; $10.
Aug. 11: Who Chooseth Me
Practicing psychoanalyst Mavis Himes
speaks about the insights psycho-
analysis can bring to The Merchant of
Venice; free.
Aug. 24: Shylock
Aug. 11, 15 and 17: How to Disappear
Completely
Sept. 21: Alisa Solomon: Fiddler's
Fortunes: The Mighty Afterlife of a
Broadway Musical
A dramatic reading of a play by Arnold
Wesker that tells the story from
Shylock's point of view; $25.
Israeli-born, Vancouver-based lighting
designer Ital Erdal's solo stage piece
demonstrates his approach to theatri-
cal lighting and reflects on what hap-
pens after his mother asks him to take
her life; $25.
Solomon, a former theater critic for
the Village Voice, directs the arts and
culture concentration in the master's
program at Columbia Journalism
School; $10.
Aug. 13: Shylock Revisited:
Oct. 5: Shylock Appeals
Discussion covers ideas about what
happens if Shylock is a she ... an
examination of the co-mingling of anti-
Semitism, sexism and The Merchant of
Venice; $20.
Witness the appeal of Shylock's sen-
tence by prominent lawyers before a
court of Canadian judges; free. —I
Aug. 14: Budrus
Film and discussion about saving a
Palestinian village with the help of
Israelis; $20.
For more information
and to register, go to
www.stratfordfestival.ca .
See related story on page 57.
Jews
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
Wolk-Mania
me The April 7 premiere of the sixth sea-
of AMC's Mad Men introduced a
CD son
new character, Bob Benson, played
Al by none other than Farmington Hills
■ native James Wolk, 28.
' 1
Here are excerpts from an April
8 Hollywood Reporter piece that
explains all: "Benson, a hyper-
enthusiastic, brown-nosing accounts
employee at Sterling Draper Cooper
Pryce, attempts to get into the good
graces of Don Draper (Jon Hamm),
the superstar adman he's always
wanted to meet.
"And there's something about
Wolk – an intelligence and intensity
– that makes him more than just a
L
58
April 18 • 2013
pretty face. The 28-year-old actor has
racked up a host of TV credits [includ-
ing] a leading role on the short-lived
Fox series Lone Star and a recurring
part on Showtime's Shameless and
ABC's Happy Endings. The Michigan
native also portrayed Sigourney
Weaver's son in the 2012 USA minise-
ries Political Animals.
"Besides Mad Men, Wolk is part of a
buzzy new comedy project also focused
on an ad agency. Called The Crazy
Ones and produced
by David E. Kelley,
the CBS pilot –
which could be
green-lit for next
season – touts Robin
Williams and Sarah
Michelle Gellar, 35, as
Wolk
father-and-daughter
co-owners of a firm."
By the way, a writer for the website
Buzzfeed, who is bonkers for the actor,
maintains that Wolk could give the very
hunky Jon Hamm a run for his money
and has compiled a raft of pics for an
article titled: "19 Reasons Don Draper
Should Feel Threatened By James
Wolk": http://tinyurl.comktg6z6e .
Bully For Bobo
The film Disconnect, which opens on
Friday, April 19, tells
three mostly sepa-
rate stories that ulti-
mately join up. All the
characters' lives are
heavily influenced by
the Internet.
The first story
focuses on a teen-
Bobo
age boy (Jonah Bobo, 16), who is
being cyber-bullied. Bobo, who most
recently co-starred in the 2011 comedy
Crazy, Stupid, Love, was raised in an
Orthodox home. The other stories con-
cern a couple whose identity is stolen
and a young man who makes his living
by taking his clothes off online.
Another Love Story
On April 9, the Jewish Book Council
named Francesca Segal, 33, the win-
ner of the $100,000
2013 Sami Rohr
Prize for Jewish
Literature in fiction
for her debut novel,
The Innocents.
The author, is the
daughter of Erich
Segal (Love Story).
❑
Segal