arts & life

1 1.
Thou
H
nOilerThan

The wicked humor

of playwright

Joshua Harmon

comes to life in

JET's production of

Bad Jews.

56

May 14 • 2015

Suzanne Chessler
I Contributing Writer

T

he Jewish Ensemble
Theatre (JET) will end its
2014-15 season by lining
up with a theatrical trend — stag-
ing Bad Jews written by Joshua
Harmon.
While Harmon recently has
been immersed in the opening of
a newer work (Significant Other)
for the Roundabout Theatre
Company in New York, JET has
been preparing to act out the play
that has become the third most-
produced in the country.
Bad Jews, also introduced by
Roundabout, will be presented
May 20-June 14 in the Aaron
DeRoy Theatre at the Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield. It has been defined
as a dark comedy by actors in
the upcoming production
directed by Christopher
Bremer, JET's execu-
tive director.
The plot fol-
lows a battle
between cousins
Diana (who
prefers to
go by her
Hebrew name,
Daphna) and
Liam, attending
their grandfa-
ther's funeral
and wanting the
gold chai saved by
the deceased

throughout the Holocaust.
Cast members include Meredith
Deighton as Daphna and Mitchell
Koory as Liam. While Emilio
Rodriguez portrays Jonah, a rela-
tive shocked by the fight, Katie
Galazka takes the role of Melody,
Liam's girlfriend and the only
non-Jewish character.
In an article published by the
SpeakEasy Stage Company in
Boston, Harmon explained how
the idea for the play and charac-
ters came to him.
"I think a seed for this play
was planted in college, when I
attended a Yom HaShoah service
Harmon wrote. "I'd been to many
such services in my childhood,
and at each one, [survivors would
speak about their experiences],
which was always powerful ...
"At this particular service, the
theme was 'Grandchildren of
Survivors. Instead of hearing from
someone older, speaking English
with a thick foreign accent, my
peers got up and spoke about their
grandparents' experiences.
"I found the event strangely
unmoving. It forced me to reckon
with questions about how my
generation would remember the
Holocaust and whether or not
we're prepared to handle that
responsibility. It probably laid the
groundwork for this play."
Deighton, who appeared as
Margot in JET's production of The
Diary of Anne Frank, is drawn to
the theme of family, albeit a dys-
functional one.
"Their views are all so differ-
ent:' she explains. "Daphna thinks
she should get the chai because
she is the one most into her faith
and is moving to Israel.
"Daphna is very different
from the person I am.
She is strong-willed,
and I like her con-
viction. She stands
by her values and
says what she
thinks"
Deighton,
marketing
director for
the Ringwald
Theatre in
Ferndale,
is looking
to books

and the Internet to learn more
about the Jewish elements in her
character's outlook. Raised in
Bloomfield Hills, she has gained
knowledge attending bar and bat
mitzvah celebrations and seders
planned by friends.
Recent stage credits include
roles in Tender Napalm and
Angels in America at Ringwald.
This summer, she will perform
in Shakespeare's All's Well That
Ends Well with Water Works
Theatre Company in Royal Oak.
Koory, last seen at JET as the
Meredith Deighton plays Daphna
title character in My Name Is
Asher Lev, portrays a gradu-
ate student concentrating on
Japanese youth culture and
speaking out about his separa-
tion from Judaism.
"Liam pursues the chai with
intensity:' says Koory, who
works as an automotive market-
ing specialist while accepting
theater parts throughout the
Midwest. "He doesn't pull any
punches and wants the chai
because of family heritage.
"This play is intense, enjoy-
able and exciting theater. It has
verbal battles and is different
from what audiences are used to
seeing."
Rodriguez, who came to
Mitchell Koory co-stars as Liam
Michigan to participate in the
Teach For America program,
has taught drama at Detroit's
Theatre School.
Mumford High School. He has
"Bad Jews gives audiences initial
been in JET's touring productions.
impressions of characters who
"I love learning about new
later reveal themselves [in differ-
cultures' Rodriguez says as he
ent ways]," says Galazka, who has
takes on a Jewish role and is
appeared in productions staged
becoming familiar with the tradi-
by the Performance Network
tions through resources at the
Theatre, Abreact Performance
Jewish Community Center in West Space in Detroit and Planet Ant. "I
Bloomfield.
find redeeming qualities in all of
Rodriguez, who studied drama
them:'
at the University of California,
Irvine, has been seen in Invasion
at Planet Ant in Hamtramck
and County Line at Performance
Network Theatre in Ann Arbor.
Bad Jews will be
"Bad Jews tackles the issue
performed May 20-June
14 in the Aaron DeRoy
of traditionalism relatable to all
people," Rodriguez says. "It can be
Theatre at the Jewish
exclusionary or an opportunity to
Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
celebrate identity:'
$41-$48 with discounts
Galazka, seen as Miep Gies in
JET's The Diary of Anne Frank,
for seniors, students and
earned a bachelor's degree in the-
groups. (248) 788-2900;
ater from Wayne State University
jettheatre.org .
and studied at the Moscow Art

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