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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