"Bad Jews" is the current show at the New Jewish Theatre. It could almost be a meditation on what it means to belong to any particular ethnic group, except that Judaism has the singular distinction of not only referring to a widely varied ethnic group but to a religion as well. Grounds for dissention, therefore, would appear to be particularly wide.
But what we have in Joshua Harmon's play are four young adults, three cousins gathered because of the death of their grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, and the eldest's very Nordic-looking girlfriend, who isn't quite sure of her ethnic heritage. They're jammed into a studio apartment on Riverside Drive in New York, with the two brothers' parents living in the same building.
Early in the play, I began to think of my standard warning to younger members of our family: Funerals make people crazy. Even people you'd never think it would happen to – it just does things to people. Daphna (Em Piro), who was Diana until fairly recently, comes out of the shower and begins to badger Jonah (Pete Winfrey), the cousin who lives there, and the audience thinks, well, the funeral was today and everyone is still upset. But she does seem to be particularly gifted at badgerment.
Jonah's older brother, Liam (Antonio Rodriguez), finishing his masters in Chicago, and the subject of part of the earlier converstion, arrives with Melody (Taylor Steward), who's meeting the family for the first time. They're late – there was a problem with cell signals in Aspen and didn't find out about the death until too late to make the actual funeral. Liam, who seems to be the golden boy, is only too able to stand up to Daphna, and the fray begins in earnest. Daphna handles Melody with a skill that must have made her president of her sorority at Vassar, pushing and pulling her like a snake charmer. She's not nearly as successful with Liam.
Em Piro's Daphna is almost cringingly good, so vehement is she, so cunning. As Liam, Rodriguez shows what seems to be hard-learned restraint when things reach their peak, but his stress, presumably, over the situation seems to take much of the edge off his interaction with Melody. Steward doesn't play her as a dumb bunny, but when her personality emerges more strongly, it's well done. Jonah, the younger brother played by Winfrey, has relatively few lines, but much of his acting is physical rather than verbal.
The studio apartment set and the hall outside, from Dunsi Dai, work very well, and Kimberly Klearman's lights accentuate that. My problem is with the script. There is much discussion in some theater circles over whether this actually is a comedy, despite the New York Times' description of it. And this is not a play with the sort of humor that New Yorkers understand and people from elsewhere might not. Two strident people and their unwilling accomplices shout at each other. It's partially a discussion of "What is Jewish?" because the cousins' cultural and religious identification with it cover the spectrum. But it seems more about family dynamics. Unless it was director Sydnie Grosberg Ronga's decision to play it loud and hard, there doesn't seem to be much that's comedic about it. Melody, the girlfriend, is close to a cliche, and I suspect it could be argued that Daphna and even Liam are on the verge of that state. The ending seems strained.
Still, the show is popular enough that the run has been extended for another 3 performances. It's about 90 minutes without an intermission.
Bad Jews
through December 23
New Jewish Theatre
Marvin & Harlene Wool Theatre
Jewish Community Center Family Complex
314-442-3283