Ronelle Grier | Contributing Writer
T

he loss of a grandmother
s 
corpse on its way to be buried 
in Israel does not sound like the 
stuff a romantic comedy is made of, but 
Handle with Care, now showing at the 
Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) through 
Dec. 24, is full of pleasant surprises.
    In this Jewish-style Christmas story, 
written by Emmy Award-nominated 
writer and producer Jason Odell 
Williams and directed by Robert 
Grossman, Jewish humor and heart are 
infused with the magical spirit of tradi-
tional holiday stories, and the result is 
both hilarious and heartwarming. (For 
more about the playwright, see Love, 
Comedy and Misunderstandings in 
the Nov. 24 issue of the JN or online at 
jewishnews.com.)
The story, which has been produced 
off-Broadway and elsewhere in the 
United States and Canada, opens in a 
drab motel room on a snowy Christmas 
Eve in a small Virginia town. An 
attractive Israeli woman named Ayelet 
(Annie Keris), who has just learned 
that her grandmother
s body has been 
misplaced, bursts in and unleashes a 
tirade of rapid-fire Hebrew. Her target 
is Terrence (Dan Johnson), the dis-
mayed delivery man whose truck was 
stolen while he went inside a nearby 
gas station to stock up on snacks. 
Panicked by Ayelet
s ranting and 
fearful he will lose his job for leaving 
the key in the ignition, Terrence has 
called upon his childhood friend Josh 
(Michael Lopetrone) for help. Because 
Josh is half-Jewish, Terrence assumes 
he will be able to communicate with 
Ayelet, who is talking Jewish, and sal-
vage what is fast becoming a disastrous 
situation. 
At first, Josh, who lost his wife in a 
car accident 18 months earlier, is upset 
because he assumes Terrence is try-
ing to set him up with Ayelet. When 
he learns the real reason he has been 
summoned, he is even more annoyed, 
informing Terrence he has not spo-
ken Hebrew since his bar mitzvah. 
Realizing that Ayelet needs help and 

Terrence is essentially useless, Josh 
reluctantly agrees to stay, and, despite 
the language barrier, he and Ayelet 
manage to find their own form of com-
munication, culminating in a make-
shift Christmas Eve/Shabbat dinner 
and some stunning revelations.
We learn that Ayelet and her grand-
mother, Edna, played in flashbacks 
by the wonderful Henrietta Hermelin 
Weinberg, veteran actress and one of 
the JET
s original founders, have trav-
elled from Israel to the United States 
for a road trip. The reason behind 
this unusual trip, which avoids national 
tourist sites such as the Statue of 
Liberty in favor of unremarkable small 
towns, is known only to Edna. The 
scene where she finally explains to her 
granddaughter why she insisted on tak-
ing this journey is the most touching 
moment of the entire production.
Weinberg plays the consummate 
Jewish grandma to the hilt, dispensing 
wisdom and advice with a generous 
topping of love, and Keris, Johnson 
and Lopetrone, all first-time JET per-
formers, do a stellar job with their 
roles. The fact that Keris, a New York 
actor and Wayne State University
s 
Hilberry Theatre alumnus, had no 
prior knowledge of Hebrew before she 
began preparing for the part makes her 
performance especially impressive. Her 
accent, exaggerated hand gestures and 
fast-talking manner are as authentic as 
they come.
Set designer Leo Babcock has done 
an excellent job replicating a generic 
motel room, with a door that opens to 
reveal the usual white-tiled bathroom. 
The only thing to distinguish the loca-
tion of the room is a framed poster 
proclaiming Virginia is for Lovers. 
The back wall is a transparent 
window facing the motel parking lot 
and a grocery store, a device that is 
cleverly used to show the snow falling 
outside and the characters coming and 
going from the room. The produc-
tion is rounded out with sound design  
by Matt Lira, lighting design by Neil 
Koivu, costumes by Mary Copenhagen 
and props by Diane Ulseth. *

JET
s newest production.

46 December 8  2016

arts & life

review

Handle 
With 
Care

details
Handle with Care runs through Dec. 24 at the JCC in West Bloomfield. $44; student 
and senior discounts available. (248) 788-2900; jettheatre.org.

Annie Keris, Michael Lopetrone and Dan 

Johnson in Handle with Care at JET

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