twi-ny recommended events

LET THEM EAT CAKE: TWO EDIBLE MONO-OPERAS AT ASYLUM NYC

THERE WILL BE CAKE!
Asylum NYC
123 East Twenty-Fourth St. between Lexington & Park Aves.
December 12-14, $10-$35, 1:30
www.operapraktikos.org
asylumnyc.com

Will there be cake at There Will Be Cake! Yes indeed, there will be cake at the two afternoon mono-operas taking place December 12-14 at 1:30 at Asylum NYC, presented by Opera Praktikos (OPrak).

The pair of related works are set in the same kitchen fifty years apart; Bon Appetit!, by Lee Hoiby, Julia Child, and Mark Shulgasser, features mezzo-soprano Hailey McAvoy singing the role of the beloved host of the breakthrough cooking program The French Chef, while OPrak’s first commission, Fluffernutter, by composer-lyricist Spicer Carr and librettist-playwright Marianna Mott Newirth, features Zwisenfach Shanley Horvitz as Sarah Karmichael and piano arrangements by Patrick Tice-Carroll.

The works, which deal with memory and food, are directed by Gwynn MacDonald, with music direction by Calvin Hitchcock. The December 14 performance is already sold out, although it is also available via livestream.

As Child once said, “Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it’s done right. Even a pancake.”

And certainly cake.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

SILENT MASTERPIECES WITH LIVE BENSHI AND SAMISEN AT JAPAN SOCIETY

Benshi star Ichiro Kataoka will narrate two silent masterpieces at Japan Society, with live shamisen music by Sumie Kaneko

THE BENSHI TRADITION AND THE SILVER SCREEN: A JAPANESE PUPPETRY SPIN-OFF
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Thursday, December 12, and Friday, December 13, $22-$31, 7:30
212-715-1258
www.japansociety.org

Japan Society’s “Ningyo! A Parade of Puppetry” began in September with Basil Twist’s mind-blowing Dogugaeshi and continued in October with National Bunraku Theater’s Date Musume Koi no Higanoko (Oshichi, the Greengrocer’s Daughter) and Sonezaki Shinju (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki) and in November with Sachiyo Takahashi/Nekaa Lab’s One Night in Winter and The Peony Lantern.

The fall series concludes with “The Benshi Tradition and the Silver Screen: A Japanese Puppetry Spin-Off,” two evenings of live music by Sumie Kaneko on the shamisen and benshi narration by contemporary “movie talker” Ichiro Kataoka, in Japanese with English subtitles, accompanying a pair of rarely screened silent masterpieces. On December 12, they will perform to Daisuke Ito’s 1927 jidaigeki A Diary of Chuji’s Travels, starring Denjirō Ōkōchi; originally a four-hour triptych, only 111 fragmented minutes now remain. That will be followed on December 13 by Shozo Makino’s 1910-17 ninety-minute work-in-progress Chushingura, an incomplete early cinematic adaptation of the story of the 47 ronin featuring Matsunosuke Onoe, who is said to have appeared in a thousand films by the time of his death in 1926 at the age of fifty, though only six survive, at least in part.

Both events will be preceded by a lecture at 6:30 by Princeton University professor Dr. Junko Yamazaki; there will be a postshow private gathering for artists and Japan Society members on December 12 and an artist Q&A on December 13. The previous productions in “Ningyo! A Parade of Puppetry,” being held in conjunction with the Japan Society exhibition “Bunraku Backstage,” sold out in advance, so act quickly if you want to catch what should be two rare, unique experiences.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

ROBERT SIODMAK: “CORRUPTER OF THE GERMAN FAMILY”

Phantom Lady is one of seventeen films in Robert Siodmak retrospective at Lincoln Center

ROBERT SIODMAK: DARK VISIONARY
Film at Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
144 West Sixty-Fifth St. at Amsterdam Ave.
December 11-19, All-Access Pass $119
www.filmlinc.org

In his 2010 essay “Dark Mirrors” for the Museum of the Moving Image, David Cairns wrote, “If film noir had not somehow coalesced from a miasma of influences floating in the atmosphere of ’40s America — postwar disillusion and anxiety, French poetic realism, German Expressionism, the gangster movie, and pulp fiction traditions — perhaps only Fritz Lang or Robert Siodmak could have invented it. Lang, because his work always carried a dark worldview, filtering sociopolitical tensions and focusing them into intense, ecstatic, tortured images. Siodmak, because his movies already followed two normally divergent paths — social realism and expressionist nightmare — which converge to make noir.”

While the Austrian-born German-American Lang is well known for such classics as Metropolis, M, You Only Live Once, Ministry of Fear, The Big Heat, and Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, made in Germany and Hollywood, Siodmak, who was born in Dresden and worked in Germany, Paris, and California, is far less well known despite making some all-time favorites in multiple genres and being denounced by Josef Goebbels as “a corrupter of the German family.”

Film at Lincoln Center is honoring the director with the seventeen-film retrospective “Robert Siodmak: Dark Visionary,” including new 4K restorations of 1943’s Son of Dracula, 1944’s Phantom Lady, 1945’s The Suspect, and 1946’s The Killers. The works range from 1930’s People on Sunday, codirected by Edgar G. Ullmer, through 1952’s The Crimson Pirate, and feature such stars as Ava Gardner, Lon Chaney Jr., Maria Montez, Charles Laughton, Olivia de Havilland, George Sanders, Dorothy McGuire, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, Victor Mature, Yvonne De Carlo, Lloyd Bridges, and Ella Raines.

THE KILLERS

Burt Lancaster makes a killer film debut in classic 1946 noir from Robert Siodmak

THE KILLERS (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Thursday, December 12, 6:30
Friday, December 13, 8:30
www.filmlinc.org

In 1950, Edmond O’Brien starred as auditor Frank Bigelow in Rudolph Maté’s classic noir D.O.A., a story told in flashback as Bigelow tries to figure out why someone has poisoned him. Four years earlier, O’Brien dealt with another kind of fatalism in Robert Siodmak’s The Killers, playing insurance agent Jim Reardon, who is investigating why a gas station attendant was brutally gunned down in his bed in suburban Brentwood, New Jersey. The film opens with cold-hearted contract killers Al (Charles McGraw) and Max (William Conrad) arriving in town, looking for the Swede (Burt Lancaster), aka Pete Lund and Ole Andreson. They waltz into Henry’s Diner, giving orders and exchanging mean-spirited dialogue with no fears or worries. When Nick Adams (Phil Brown) warns the Swede that the men are coming to kill him, the former boxer knows there’s nothing he can do about it anymore; he’s tired of running, and he’s ready to meet his end. It’s a shocking way to begin a movie; up to that point, it’s a faithful version of Ernest Hemingway’s short story, but the rest is the splendid invention of writers Richard Brooks, Anthony Veiller, and John Huston and producer Mark Hellinger. Reardon soon finds himself meeting with a series of gangsters as they relate, through flashbacks, a plot to rob a payroll, perpetrated by a motley crew that includes “Dum Dum” Clarke (Jack Lambert), “Blinky” Franklin (Jeff Corey), the Swede, and mastermind Big Jim Colfax (Albert Dekker), along with Big Jim’s gun moll, femme fatale extraordinaire Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner). Reardon’s boss (Donald MacBride) wants him to forget about it, since it’s essentially about a meager $2,500 insurance claim, but Reardon is determined to find out what happened to a quarter million in cash, with the help of the Swede’s childhood friend, Lt. Sam Lubinsky (Sam Levene).

Ava Gardner turns more than a few heads in THE KILLERS

Ava Gardner turns more than a few heads in The Killers

The Killers is an intense, passionate heist flick, structured like Citizen Kane, starting with a death and then putting everything together via interviews and flashbacks. Lancaster and Gardner are magnetic, he in his screen debut, she in the film that made her a star. Siodmak (The Dark Mirror, The Spiral Staircase) masterfully navigates the noir tropes, from Miklós Rózsa’s jazzy score, which jumps out from the opening credits, and Woody Bredell’s oft-angled black-and-white cinematography that maintains an ominous, shadowy sensibility throughout to deft characterizations and surprising plot twists. As it makes its way through the seven deadly sins, The Killers lives up to its fab billing as a “Raw! Rugged! Ruthless drama of a man who gambled — his luck — his love — his life for the treachery of a girl’s lips.” Nominated for four Oscars, for Best Director, Best Film Editing (Arthur Hilton), Best Music, and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Killers, which was also made into a 1958 student short by Andrei Tarkovsky and a 1964 crime drama by Don Siegel starring Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Norman Fell, and Ronald Reagan, is screening December 12 and 13 in a new 4K restoration in the Film at Lincoln Center series “Robert Siodmak: Dark Visionary.” Be on the lookout for such other gems and surprises as Inquest, The Burning Secret, Cobra Woman, The Spiral Staircase, and Criss Cross.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

OUR RIGHTS, OUR FUTURE, RIGHT NOW: IHRAF 2024

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ART FESTIVAL
The Tank
312 West Thirty-Sixth St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
December 9-15, $25
humanrightsartmovement.org
thetanknyc.org

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations released the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which announces, “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world . . . The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.” The theme of Human Rights Day 2024 is “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.”

In 2017, in celebration of the UDHR, playwright, author, and visual artist Tom Block started the International Human Rights Art Festival; the inaugural event was scheduled to be held at St. Mary’s Church but was censored by Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan and had to quickly search for a new venue. “I feel fortunate in that I am not beholden to a spiritual structure that tells me who is worthy of a voice and protection and who is not. We believe that all people share this right,” Block said at the time. “We will not pick and choose among our acts or our issues, allowing some while rejecting others.”

That statement of purpose has remained a driving force as the festival has expanded over the years, having presented more than two thousand artists from more than one hundred countries. The sixth annual iteration takes place December 9-15 at the Tank with twelve thematic programs exploring climate change, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigration, and other basic human rights through dance, music, and theater, consisting of sixty new shows from nearly two dozen countries; all tickets are $25. Below is the full schedule.

Monday, December 9
Ten Minute Play Festival: Kelly Burr’s Passed Tents, Abhisek Bhattacharya’s Catastrophe, Robert Galinsky’s Requiem for the Wretched, Monte D. Monteleagre’s You Can Untie Them the Guards Can’t Stop You, Zareh Artinian Jr.’s Today’s América, Equity Library Theater of New York’s Across the Lake, and Rhys Collins’s Angelic Virtues, 7:00

Tuesday, December 10
Pride Residency and Performance by WADE Dance: Gesture Theater’s WAITING / POINTING, John Trunfio’s Pools, Donald Lee’s Fragility Cycle, and Noel Olson’s Do You Still Believe?, 7:00

Wednesday, December 11
Celebration of Immigration: excerpts from Natie’s “HOME”: Oceans — Ter La, Taiwo Aloba’s A Very Nigerian Dream, Kenneth Keng’s Through, Al Evangelista’s echoes, and Between Us Theatre Co’s Access Denied, 7:00

Wednesday, December 11
Celebration of LGBTQIA+: Jill Ohayon & Ryan O’Dea’s Turbulence, Maddie Moayedi’s Infractions, Farm Arts Collective’s Lucy Joseph, and Justin Anthony Long’s BIG ASS SECRET, 8:30

Thursday, December 12
Celebration of Women: Zizi Majid and Logan Reed’s Will, Groove with Me’s Her, Catherine Cabeen’s . . . yet again, Addison Vaughn’s Non-Advice to a Boat, and Miranda Stück’s I AM, 7:00

Thursday, December 12
Climate Change Action: Sarah Congress & Emma Denson’s Melting, Madeleine Yu-Phelps’s Ǝverything Okay, JCWK Dance Lab’s Eroded, and Lee Harrison Daniel’s sylvia, beginning to end and onward, 8:30

Friday, December 13
Human beings are members of a whole: Melis Yesiller’s Ünzile, Cecilia Whalen’s Two solos and a duet, Tina Bararian’s Built on Kindness, and Valentina Bache’s “It boils the water within,” dance event curated by Tina Bararian, 7:00

Friday, December 13
IHRAF TRANSforms — Celebration of Trans Artists: Ryan Hung and Charlie Meyers’s Now Boarding, Boundless Theatre Company’s Translucent, and Rush Johnston/Kaleid Dance Collective’s Until It Gets Dark, 8:30

Saturday, December 14
Celebration of Human Rights I: Rachael Sage’s Under My Canopy, Alex Manaa & Vaheed Talebian’s Another Cousin’s Wedding, the Invitation Arts Collective’s MOTHER EARTH, LET ME BLOOM, WaveLab’s Wave: A Hydrofeminist Performance, Joshua Piper’s Pas de Deux, and Inara Arts’s We Rise, 3:00

Celebration of Human Rights II: Carolyn Dorfman Dance’s CRIES OF THE CHILDREN, Steph Prizhitomsky’s Divine Hotline, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance’s p u r p l e f l a m e, Steve Kronovet’s Waterslides in the Middle East, and Lindsey Wilson’s The Blackbird Trilogy, 7:00

Sunday, December 15
What to do? An evening of dance curated by Charly Santagado, featuring Lucienne Parker’s The Wetting of 12pm, Nathan Forster & Michelle Lukac’s Maybe We’re Trash, Lavy and Christian Warner’s pussys beat, I say to you, Amen O Lord, and excerpts from IMGE Dance’s (heart)beat, 3:00

Ten Minute Performance Festival: Pritha Mukherji’s Musings of an International Student, Tova Hopemark’s Heirloom, Little Shadow Productions’s You Have Arrived, Saidharshana Dhantu’s Behind Closed Doors, Jaymie Bellous’s Moonlight Becomes You, and sarAika movement collective’s Skin Deep, 7:00

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

IT’S BASHERT! CELEBRATING BOOKS AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE

NEW YORK JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Pl.
Sunday, December 8, free with advance RSVP, 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
866-811-4111
mjhnyc.org

The 2024 New York Jewish Book Festival, being held December 8 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is chock-full of exciting literary events, starting at 10:00 am and continuing through a 6:00 concert by Marcin Masecki and Ger Mandolin Orchestra. And best of all, everything is free. There will be talks, workshops, panel discussions, and book signings, covering such topics as “Deconstructing Jewish Masculinity,” “Jewish Icons,” “It’s Bashert! Jewish Love and Romance,” “Translating Yiddish Prose by Women,” and “Rebuilding Lives: Survivors After the Holocaust.” Among the books being featured are Rebecca Clarren’s The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota and an American Inheritance, F. K. Clementi’s South of My Dreams: Finding My American Home, Delia Ephron’s Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life, Reuven Fenton’s Goyhood, and Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer’s The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. Below is the full schedule.

Writing Workshop: Tell Me Everything!, with Beth Harpaz, Events Hall, 10:15

Deconstructing Jewish Masculinity, with Ronnie Grinberg, Miriam Eve Mora, Sarah Imhoff, and Laura Shaw Frank, Classrooms A/B, 10:15

Emerging Narratives: Debut Jewish Fiction, with Danny Goodman, Sarah Seltzer, Lauren Aliza Green, Sasha Vasilyuk, and Susan Weidman Schneider, Keeping History Center, 10:15

Jewish Icons: Judy Blume, Jean Carroll, and Marty Glickman, with Jeffrey S. Gurock, Grace Kessler Overbeke, Rachelle Bergstein, and Stephanie Butnick, the Studio, 10:15

Rebecca Clarren and Sarah Podemski: The Cost of Free Land, with Rebecca Clarren, Sarah Podemski, Edmond J. Safra Hall, 11:30

Jewish Icons: Judy Blume, Jean Carroll, and Marty Glickman Book Signing, Events Hall, 11:30

It’s Bashert! Jewish Love and Romance, with Ali Rosen, Hannah Reynolds, Hannah Orenstein, and Lior Zaltzman, the Studio, 11:30

Deconstructing Jewish Masculinity Book Signing, Lobby 1, 11:30

Emerging Narratives: Debut Jewish Fiction Book Signing, Lobby 3, 11:30

Translating Yiddish Prose by Women, with Ellen Cassedy, Anita Norich, and Lisa Newman, Classrooms A/B, 11:45

Jews Writing Jews: Creating Jewish Characters, with Elyssa Friedland, Caroline Leavitt, Reuven Fenton, Julia Gergely, and Elizabeth Harris, Keeping History Center, 11:45

It’s Bashert! Jewish Love and Romance Book Signing, Events Hall, 12:45

Salinger’s Soul, with Stephen B. Shepard and Lisa Newman, the Studio, 12:45

Rebecca Clarren and Sarah Podemski: The Cost of Free Land Book Signing, Lobby 1, 12:45

Delia Ephron and Amy Schwartz: Left on Tenth, with Delia Ephron and Amy Schwartz, Edmond J. Safra Hall, 1:00

Jews Writing Jews: Creating Jewish Characters Book Signing, Lobby 3, 1:00

Translating Yiddish Prose by Women Book Signing, Lobby 1, 1:00

Rebuilding Lives: Survivors After the Holocaust, with Seth Stern, Sandra Fox, and Sarah Maslin Nir, Classrooms A/B, 1:15

On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors & Advocates, with Bradley Tusk, Ali Rosen, Samantha Ettus, and Zibby Owens, Keeping History Center, 1:15

Salinger’s Soul Book Signing, Events Hall, 2:00

The Joy of Connections, with Allison Gilbert and Rachel Wright, the Studio, 2:00

Delia Ephron and Amy Schwartz: Left on Tenth Book Signing, Lobby 1, 2:15

The Old Jewish Men’s Guide to Eating, Sleeping, and Futzing Around, with Noah Rinsky and Jonah Bromwich, Edmond J. Safra Hall, 2:30

Rebuilding Lives: Survivors After the Holocaust Book Signing, Lobby 1, 2:30

On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors & Advocates Book Signing, Lobby 3, 2:30

Crafting Jewish Fantasy and Folklore, with A. R. Vishny, Laura R. Samotin, and Veronica Schanoes, Classrooms A/B, 2:45

The Diary of Anne Frank: Beloved and Banned, with Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather and Adam Langer, Keeping History Center, 2:45

The Joy of Connections Book Signing, Events Hall, 3:15

Jewish Poetry Workshop, with Sean Glatch, the Studio, 3:30

The Old Jewish Men’s Guide to Eating, Sleeping, and Futzing Around Book Signing, Lobby 1, 3:45

Crafting Jewish Fantasy and Folklore Book Signing, Lobby 1, 4:00

Unearthing Untold Holocaust Stories, with Chris Heath, Elizabeth White, Jack Fairweather, and Debórah Dwork, Classrooms A/B, 4:15

In Her Words: Contemporary Jewish Women’s Memoirs, with F. K. Clementi, Bonny Reichert, Sara Glass, and Evelyn Frick, Keeping History Center, 4:15

Yiddish Translation Workshop, with Anita Norich, the Studio, 4:45

Unearthing Untold Holocaust Stories Book Signing, Lobby 1, 5:30

In Her Words: Contemporary Jewish Women’s Memoirs Book Signing, Lobby 3, 5:30

Gersuite – A Concert by Marcin Masecki and Ger Mandolin Orchestra, Edmond J. Safra Hall, 6:00

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

FOOLING AROUND WITH THE BARD: REIMAGINING SHAKESPEARE THROUGH GOOGLE TRANSLATE

Who: Emily Conlon, Sevrin Willinder
What: Shakespeare Translate: The Complete Works
Where: Caveat, 21A Clinton St. between East Houston & Stanton Sts., 212-228-2100
When: Sunday, December 1, $10 livestream, $18 in advance, $23 at door, 2:30
Why: In Hamlet, the title character says about a troupe of traveling actors, “He that plays the king shall be welcome. His majesty shall have tribute of me. The adventurous knight shall use his foil and target, the lover shall not sigh gratis, the humorous man shall end his part in peace, the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o’ th’ sere, and the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt for ’t. What players are they?”

Shakespeare included clowns or fools in most of his works, including Costard in Love’s Labours Lost, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, the two Dromios in The Comedy of Errors, Feste in Twelfth Night, Lavache in All’s Well That Ends Well, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the fool in King Lear. On December 1 at Caveat, clowns Emily Conlon and Sevrin Willinder will present “Shakespeare Translate: The Complete Works,“ in which they will perform their favorite excerpts from every single play by the Bard, using original text that has been filtered through Google Translate fifteen times to give it a more contemporary feel; the show is directed by Melissa Ingle. Conlon describes herself as “a Brooklyn-based actor, singer, voice actor, and goofball,” while Willinder “is a ravishing young lad from Plympton, Massachusetts.” Advance tickets are $18, at the door $23; the performance, from Devon Loves ME! Productions, which was cofounded by Willinder, is also available via livestream for $10.

As Touchstone, the court jester, says in As You Like It, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Find out more at Caveat (or online) on Sunday afternoon.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]

A DEVASTATING BLAST: ARLEKIN’S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE COMES TO CLASSIC STAGE

The cast of Arlekin’s Merchant of Venice playfully poses at press rehearsal (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

ARLEKIN IN RESIDENCE: THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Classic Stage Company, Lynn F. Angelson Theater
136 East Thirteenth St. between Third & Fourth Aves.
Tuesday – Sunday, November 22 – December 22, $59-$129
www.classicstage.org/venice
www.arlekinplayers.com

Introducing a press rehearsal of two scenes from Igor Golyak and Arlekin Players Theatre’s adaptation of The Merchant of Venice at Classic Stage, producer Sara Stackhouse said, “Igor directed a very early iteration of this — this is quite different — but it was the DNA of this version of The Merchant of Venice. It was hilarious, and devastating, in Boston. It was like a punch in the face to antisemitism, and there were a lot of folks at that time who said to us, ‘Why are you doing a play on antisemitism? Why are you doing a Jewish play?’ One of the things that I have found working with incredible artists, Igor being one of them, is the way they feel the undercurrent of what is happening in the world all the time, and often ahead of time, and begin to bring it to the surface in artistic projects. That has been true for all the project I’ve done with Igor and through Arlekin. Unfortunately, it has come further and further and further to the surface not only in the art we’re making but also in the world. So we’re now doing this version of The Merchant of Venice in the context of October 7 and what happened in Amsterdam and the election and a real rise in hatred and antisemitism in the world. That canary in the coal mine — there’s no mine now; it’s like a canary flying out around the world. But one of the ways that actual humans respond to tragedy is they don’t sit and cry; they try to laugh; they try to survive. So this play is a comedy, and it’s a blast until it’s devastating.”

Boston-based Arlekin continues its residency at Classic Stage with The Merchant of Venice, following its highly acclaimed staging of Polish playwright Tadeusz Słobodzianek’s 2008 drama, Our Class, which was inspired by a horrific 1941 pogrom that occurred in the small village of Jedwabne in Poland. Running November 22 to December 22, the uniquely unpredictable work is built around a cable access program that is putting on the play, complete with low-budget foibles, casting controversies, and technical glitches. T. R. Knight stars as the host of The Antonio Show, with Richard Topol as Shylock, Alexandra Silber as Portia, Gus Birney as Jessica, Tess Goldwyn as Nerisa, José Espinosa as Bassanio, Stephen Ochsner as Launcelot Gobbo, and Noah Pacht as Lorenzo. At one point, Shylock puts on a Dracula costume, a funny yet incisive way to demonize the character who famously declares, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?”

“The first Quarto published in 1600 titled this play The most excellent historie of the merchant of Venice with the extreame crueltie of Shylocke the Jewe towards the sayd merchant, in cutting a just pound of his flesh: and the obtayning of Portia by the choyse of three chests. That’s a mouthful,” Golyak, who was born in Kyiv and came to America as a Jewish refugee when he was eleven, said in a statement. “It casts Shylock as a cruel villain and sets the expectation of a love story, a comedy, and a ruinous tragedy all wrapped into one. We are true to this in our production and we deliver all of it — an undercurrent of bias, a comedy, romance, action, and escapades — a real romp of a performance. But antisemitism is a light sleeper, and as the story plays out, it inevitably awakens and the result is devastating. It mirrors who we are, the times we live in, and how quickly the tides can turn.”

Rich Topol stars as Shylock and José Espinosa is Bassanio in Arlekin’s Merchant at Classic Stage (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Golyak and Arlekin have previously presented such innovative virtual successes as Witness, State vs. Natasha Banina, and chekhovOS /an experimental game/ in addition to the hybrid The Orchard with Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

“The more antisemitism rises in the world, the more people are hating on the Jews, the more Jewish I feel,” Golyak, whose great-grandparents were killed at Babi Yar, recently wrote. “But the play, and Jewish life, and this world are devastating. I’m shattered like glass. In sooth, as an artist, as a parent, as a Jew, and as a human, I guess I do know why I am so sad.”

“It’s a wild ride,” Golyak also noted about the play.

Judging from what I saw at the rehearsal — you can get a sneak peek here — it’s a wild ride we all need to take.

[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]