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Home , Arye Gross, Christopher Durang, Christopher Renshaw, Colors (restaurant), East West Players, Emily Mann (director)

Connecting Jewish Theatre To the World

CONFERENCE PROGRAM AJT Board/Staff Staff Executive Director: Jeremy Aluma Registrar/Finance: Marcy Segal Website Creative/Graphic Designer: Michelle Shapiro Conference Stage Manager/Program Designer: Danny Debner Executive Board President: Hank Kimmel Vice-president: Wendy Kout Vice-president: Ralph Meranto Vice-president: Deborah Baer Mozes Secretary: Jesse Bernstein Treasurer: Susan Lodish Immediate Past President: David Y. Chack Members-at-Large Social Media Manager: Danielle Levsky Toby Klein Greenwald Ronda Spinak Adam Immerwahr Robyn Ex Officio Mira Hirsch Ellen Schiff Robert Skloot Honorary Board Tovah Feldshuh Adam Kantor Theodore Bikel (z”l) We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions: ’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists (Tessa Aubergenois, Arye Gross, Karen Malina White, Sally Wingert, Minka Wiltz, and Aviva Pressman) to appear on this program. Program Contents Day One Schedule – Sunday October 25 4 Mara Isaacs 5 Debórah Eliezer 6 Seraph-Eden Boroditsky 7 Lindsey Newman 8 Stories of 9 The Great Escape 10 Bubble Schmeisis (excerpt) 11 BJW (excerpt) 12 Imagining Heschel (excerpt) 13 Day Two Schedule – Monday October 26 14 Shimrit Ron 15 Igal Ezraty 16 Hadar Galron 17 Maya Arud Yasur 18 Noam Gil 19 Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari 20 Udi Ben Moshe 21 Joshua Harmon 22 Anike Tourse 23 András Borgula 24 Helen Marcos 25 Rachel Mars 26 27 David Eisner 28 Rebecca Guber 29 True (three excerpts) 30 A Pickle (an excerpt) 31 Our Holy Leader on Trial 32 Deadlift (excerpt) 33 Eight Nights (excerpt) 34 Day Three Schedule – Tuesday October 27 35 Nikkole Salter 36 Olga Sanchez Saltveit 37 Snehal Desai 38 Rex Daugherty 39 Adam Immerwahr 40 41 Michel Hausmann 42 Anna Ziegler 43 Jill Rafson 44 Jacqueline Goldfinger 45 Truth or Laughs 46 Killer Kimchi presents Jewish Tales 47 Baba Yana’s Mindfulness and Guilt Healing Meditation 48 The Last Cyclist (Excerpt) 49 Ballad of the Triangle Fire / Bread and Roses 50 Rebecca Taichman 51 Jeremy Aluma 52 Virtual Conference Script Reading Team 53 Semi-Finalists 54 4 Day One Schedule – Sunday October 25 EVENT 1 — Opening Discussion and Q&A Who: Mara Isaacs, Producer of Tony-Award Winning Hadestown Moderator: Debórah Eliezer, Artistic Director of foolsFURY Theater Land Acknowledgement: Seraph-Eden Boroditsky, Artist and Founder of Guided Conversations Canada When: Sunday, October 25, 12pm – 1:30pm Eastern Time (9am – 10:30am Pacific Time) Description: A moderated discussion about the future of our industry, the power of theatre in this moment, the influence of Jewishness on Mara’s own work, and more. A question and answer period with attendees will follow. This event will open the conference.

EVENT 2 — AJT’s Anti-Racism Training Session 3 Who: Lindsey Newman, Director of Community Engagement from Be’chol Lashon When: Sunday, October 25, 3pm – 4:30pm Eastern Time (12pm – 1:30pm Pacific Time) Description: In the third part of this series facilitated by Lindsey Newman, we will set about the task of learning, reflection and taking action. Together we will learn how Jewish wisdom and values can help us build a multiracial community rooted in racial justice; better understand the racial paradigm of the and how we (as ) fit within.Alse we will reflect on how implicit bias and behaviors create barriers to cultural competence.These workshops are interactive and seek to provide a space for open and honest conversation, while prioritizing the development of tools for Jewish theatres and artists to become anti-racist practitioners. This session will focus on building arts tools for Jewish Theatres and Artists to help become anti-racist practitioners and think about through a racial equity lens.

EVENT 3 — Affinity Group “Regional” Networking Event Who: Network and connect with other artists from your region When: Sunday, October 25, 6pm – 7pm Eastern Time (3pm – 4pm Pacific Time) Description: The first of two networking events, this will provide the opportunity to meet and network with other artists from your area (NYC, East Coast, Midwest, The South, Canada, Israel, Europe, West Coast, other). We’ll offer some to know you prompts (name, role, pronouns, city, favorite show, favorite Jewish show) and then let you connect on your own. This event will lead right into our first selection of performances.

EVENT 4 — AJT Performance Event 1 Who: A selection of performance projects chosen by AJT. When: Sunday, October 25, 7pm – 8:30pm Eastern Time (4pm – 5:30pm Pacific Time) Stories of Jewish Holidays from La Caja Negra in Uruguay The Great Escape with Susanne Gottfried Bubble Schmeisis (excerpt), written by Nick Cassenbaum BJW (excerpt), written by Adena Walker and Erin Murray Quinlan Imagining Heschel (excerpt), written by Colin Greer 5 Mara Isaacs Mara Isaacs is a Tony® and Grammy® Award winning producer and founder of Octopus Theatricals, an independent production dedicated to fostering an expansive range of compelling theatrical works for local, national and international audiences.

She has produced over 150 productions that have been seen on Broadway (Hadestown, The Inheritance, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Translations, , Electra), off-Broadway (Hadestown, Fiasco Theater’s , The Brother/Sister Plays, Crowns, The Laramie Project), at theaters and performing arts centers around the US and the world (UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America, South Africa, Canada).

In 2019, she co-founded Sing It Again Records, winning a Grammy award with their first release, the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hadestown.

Current projects include Social! A Social Distance Dance Club (created by David Byrne, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones); Theatre For One; Dreaming Zenzile by Somi Kakoma; Iphigenia by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding; and An Iliad starring Denis O’Hare. Mara is proud to produce the work of Phantom Limb Company, Song of the Goat Theatre and more, and serves as Artistic Advisor to Fiasco Hadestown, by Anais Mitchell Theater. Directed by Photo: Matthew Murphy She served as Producing Director at McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, NJ for 18 seasons and previously produced new play development programs and productions for /Mark Taper Forum in . She teaches at Cal Arts and . www.octopustheatricals.com Q&A with Mara Isaacs Falling Out, by Chrstine Jones Phantom Limb Company Pronouns: She/Her/Hers Photo: Richard Termine Website: octopustheatricals.com

Current City: Princeton, NJ

Artistic Role: Producer

Theatre Affiliations: Founder & Executive/Creative Producer Octopus Theatricals First Theater You Remember Seeing: I don’t remember ever NOT seeing theater Favorite Jewish Food: Theatre for One Noodle Kugl Cork Festival, Ireland Photo: Clare Keogh First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hug everyone I know 6 Debórah Eliezer Debórah Eliezer, (she/hers) is the Artistic Director of foolsFURY Theater, an Associate Artist with Golden Thread, an artEquity Arts Facilitator Alum and serves on the national MENATMA (Middle East North African Alliance of Theater Makers) Steering Committee.

Passionate about the power of community, her work focuses on disrupting assumptions about the relationship of art, human values and society.

Eliezer has created many world premiers as an , choreographer, writer, director.

A professional voiceover, you can hear her voice in hundreds of commercials, Sims and other video games.

Q&A with Debórah Eliezer Pronouns: She/Her

Website: foolsfury.org

Current City: Unceded land of the Southern Pomo, aka Healdsburg, CA Artistic Role: Theater Maker, Cultural Activist

Theatre Affiliations: Artistic Director, foolsFURY Theater Resident Artist, Golden Thread First Theater You Remember Seeing: The King and I original casting touring company in San Francisco at age 5 Favorite Jewish Food: Baba Ganoush

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hug my 7 Seraph-Eden Boroditsky

Seraph-Eden Boroditsky is a Winnipeg-based arts administrator, Métis dancer and cultural educator, choreographer, consultant, and internationally selling multidisciplinary artist of Red River Métis and Ashkenazi descent. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Native Studies and Sociology from the University of Manitoba. In 2018 she created “Guided Conversations Towards Reconciliation, Anti- Oppression, and Social Justice Strategies” and has recently founded Guided Conversations Canada through which to continue delivering anti-racism education in theatre and other industries to decolonize ways of thinking and professional practices. As a committed teacher and coach, she has also developed youth workshops which illustrate lessons in equity through Métis folkdance. Seraph’s career in social justice, visual arts, theatre production, and arts administration came from a diverse path - 20 years in community organizing and activism as well as cultural preservation through traditional folkdance and art, and a love for theatre.

Seraph was named the first recipient of the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Indigenous Arts Leaders Fellowship (2018) and spent an immersive year at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre being mentored in theatre administration and production. Royal MTC was the catalyst for “Guided Conversations”, first created and delivered in the theatre. In the same year Seraph was chosen to participate in the Cultural Human Resources Council of Canada’s Talent 2 Lead program where she mentored under theatre artist Reneltta Arluk, Director of Indigenous Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. After, Seraph was the Education and Tour Coordinator with Prairie Theatre Exchange until the position was eliminated due to Covid-19.

As a professional dancer, Seraph has spent time teaching, and has performed at numerous community and official events in Canada and the American Midwest and international festivals. As a visual artist Seraph’s work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and online publications. She is represented by Framing and Art Centre in Winnipeg. Q&A with Seraph-Eden Boroditsky Pronouns: She/Her Website: guidedconversations.ca Current City: Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) Artistic Role: Multidisciplinary Visual Artist, Performer Theatre Affiliations: Education & Tour Coordinator, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg (Pre-Covid First Theater You Remember Seeing: Guys and Dolls when I was 4.

Favorite Jewish Food: Tie between knishes and kugel (egg noodle, WITH raisins!) First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Let strangers breath within 6 feet of me 8 Lindsey Newman Lindsey Newman is the Director of Community Engagement at Be’chol Lashon. Prior to joining Be’chol Lashon, she worked in the fields of women’s rights advocacy and early childhood education, and has dedicated herself to inclusion and diversity in the Jewish community for over a decade. She participated in the 2016 Selah Leadership Cohort and was a 2018 Fellow of the Ruskay Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership.

Lindsey received her B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She currently splits her time between two of the best cities in the world, San Francisco and New York. 9 Stories of Jewish Holidays

from La Caja Negra, Playback Theatre in Uruguay Director/Moderator: Melanie Catan Production: Melanie Catan, Boris Goldenberg and Muriel Taks

Cast Muriel Taks Boris Goldenberg Yoel Bercovici Kenzo Gambetta Julieta Barmaymón Musician Carlos Perera 10 The Great Escape

A live conversation with Survivor, Susanne Gottfried (featured speaker) conducted by Steve Gottfried (interviewer) from Rancho Palos Verdes, .

Susanne Gottfried shares her firsthand account of what it was like to flee Austria as an 11-year-old with her parents after Hitler assumed control and began his rein of terror. In an informal interview with her son, the 93-years young woman who was born Susie Kohn will talk about the early warning signs which caused her father to see the writing on the wall and the critical steps he took which enabled them to carve out an exit strategy on Easter Sunday 1938. She will also comment on the eerie parallels of Trump’s rise and the tragedy of watching a demagogue vilify everything this country stands for. 11 Bubble Schmeisis (excerpt)

Written & performed by Nick Cassenbaum From , England

Bubbemeises is , it translates as a grandmother’s story, a tall story, an old wives’ tale. Writer and street performer Nick Cassenbaum along with two musicians invite you into the warmth of the Canning Town Schvitz, East London’s last authentic bath house. Amongst the steam and ritual Nick will take you on a journey to find the place he belongs. Schlaping through summer camps, barber shops and Spurs games. Will he find what he was looking for? Bubble Schmeisis is full of intimate and personal true stories about identity, home and getting schmeised (washed) by old men. www.nickcassenbaum.com 12 BJW (excerpt)

Starring Adena Walker Written by Adena Walker and Erin Murray Quinlan Music and lyrics by Erin Murray Quinlan This is an excerpt of a show being debuted at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021 at Greenside. www.bjwmusical.com

Adena is a black Jewish woman in Trump’s America. What could go wrong? This excerpt from the new musical comedy is one of several vignettes that sum up Adena’s experience working, dating, and trying to make sense of NYC life in 2020. 13 Imagining Heschel (excerpt)

Written by Colin Greer Adapted and directed by David Y. Chack Produced by ShPIeL-Performing Identity with the Bunbury-ShPIeL Identity Theatre Project in Louisville, Kentucky Cast Tom Luce as Joshua Heschel Jason Maina as Jonah Richard Kautz as Cardinal Bea Bailey Story as Father Brian O’Malley Lindsey Palgy as Carol Radnor

Imagining Heschel is about the great Jewish theologian and civil rights leader Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Depicting Heschel’s work against the Vietnam War, standing with Martin Luther King, and facilitating lasting change by the Catholic Church towards the Jewish people — ultimately Imagining Heschel is an impressionistic portrayal of the ongoing and inner struggle with supremacism towards the “other.” Jason Maina, who plays ‘Jonah’ said, “I am in this play because theatre is another way to protest and this is what the Civil Rights Movement meant – love, universality, crossing borders, and fighting the ideas of racism. It is a catalyst.” 14 Day Two Schedule – Monday October 26 EVENT 5A — Israeli Theatre Maker Panel Who: Shimrit Ron, Igal Ezraty, Hadar Galron, Maya Arud Yasur, Noam Gil, Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari, and Udi Ben Moshe When: Monday, October 26, 12pm – 2pm Eastern Time (9am – 11am Pacific Time) Description: A panel with some of Israel’s most well known and notorious theatre makers making theatre now in Israel and across Europe. Get an understanding of the kinds of theatre Israeli theatre artists and companies are making. What are the trends? What are the subjects covered? What are the themes explored? Is anything off-topic or too ? Do American plays get done in Israel? Then have an opportunity to virtually meet, talk to them, ask questions, and form relationships.

EVENT 5B — Hands-On Playwriting Workshop and Discussion with Joshua Harmon Who: Joshua Harmon, of Bad Jews, Significant Other Moderator: Anike Tourse, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director, Producer, “Arn’t I a Woman; The Story of Sojourner Truth” When: Monday, October 26, 12pm – 1:30pm Eastern Time (9am – 10:30am Pacific Time) Description: This workshop will lead attendees in a hands-on playwriting workshop. And concluding with around a 30-minute Q&A on the art and business of playwriting.

EVENT 6 — Jewish Theatre-Making from Around the World Who: András Borgula, Helen Marcos, Rachel Mars, Zalmen Mlotek, David Eisner Moderator: Rachel Guber, Director and Founder of Asylum Arts When: Monday, October 26, 3pm – 4:30pm Eastern Time (12pm – 1:30pm Pacific Time) Description: This panel will address a range of questions including: How are Jewish Theatre leaders across the globe adapting to the new world and the future world to come? What are the themes that are different from each part of the world? How are theatre institutions supported financially in each country? What is the Jewish and non-Jewish breakdown of audiences and artists at each company? What is Anti-Semitism like in each country and how does it impact theatre-making?

EVENT 7 — Affinity Group “Role” Networking Event Who: Network and connect with other artists whose primary role in theatre is the same as yours When: Monday, October 26, 7pm – 8pm Eastern Time (4pm – 5pm Pacific Time) Description: The second of two networking events, this one will allow artists to connect and network with others artists in similar roles (Artistic Directors, , Performers and Actors, Directors, Designers, Dramaturg, Producers, Others). We’ll offer some get to know you prompts (name, role, pronouns, city, favorite show you’ve made, favorite Jewish show you’ve made) and then let you connect on your own. This event will lead right into our second selection of performances

EVENT 8 — AJT Performance Event 2 Who: A selection of performance projects chosen by AJT. When: Monday, October 26, 8pm – 9:40pm Eastern Time (5pm – 6:40pm Pacific Time) True Colors (three excerpts), excerpts written by Maria Ramos-Chertok, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, and Joshua Silverstein A Pickle (excerpt), written by Deborah Yarchun Our Holy Leader on Trial, written by Hank Kimmel Deadlift (excerpt), written by Aviva Pressman Eight Nights (excerpt), written by Jennifer Maisel 15 Shimrit Ron Shimrit Ron, The Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama (NPO) The Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama was founded by Noam Semel, former Director General of The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv, in 2000.

The Institute has set as its goal to promote Israeli drama and raise awareness of its crucial role in the formation of Israeli culture, both in Israel and abroad.

The Institute operates in the following fields: Translation of Contemporary Israeli Drama The enterprise set the purpose of exposing Israeli drama and encouraging its staging in theatres throughout the world.

Ever since the Institute’s establishment, Israeli plays are staged in major theatres around the world including: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, England, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Cyprus, Estonia, Kenya, The Philippines, China, Serbia, Mexico and the United States of America. Isra-Drama & International Exposure of Israeli Theatre An event designed to expose Israeli theatre to the international theater community.

During five days, we present the best of Israel’s original productions, accompanied by surtitles. Our guests are invited to panels and discussions, and have the opportunity to meet and talk with our leading theatre creators. 16 Igal Ezraty Igal Ezraty is one of the founders of the Arab-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa, Israel. His play, The Refusniks’ Trial, was compiled from the court proceedings of the young Israeli men who refused to serve in the military as a nonviolent form of resistance. Izraty’s directing work centers around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He teaches at and Hakibbutzim Acting Studio. Awards include the Tel Aviv 2004 Rozenblum Prize, the Margalit Prize, the 2002 Best Play of the Fringe Festival for Longing, the Shterenfeld Prize for directing Mister V, and First Prize in the Acre Fringe Festival for The Lane of White Chairs.

Oum Kalthoum (based on the novel “Oum” by selim Nassib), by Eden Uliel and Igal Ezraty Directed by Igal Ezraty Jaffa Theatre Photo: Raday Rubinstein Let’s Dance, by Sinai Peter, Gaby Aldor, and Igal Ezraty Directed by Igal Ezraty and Gaby Aldor Jaffa Theatre Photo: Raday Rubinstein, Hagar Adi-Onn-Ezraty

Farid Atrash, by Igal Ezraty Directed by Igal Ezraty Jaffa Theatre Starring Ziv Yehezkel Photo: Raday Rubinstein 17 Hadar Galron Hadar Galron, playwright, screenwriter, actress, comedienne, director and songwriter for theatre, cinema and t.v. Artistic director for ISF – (international Shalom Festival 2015-18) – a festival of Israeli (not necessarily Jewish) culture at the Edinburgh fringe.

Born in London, Hadar immigrated to Israel with her Jewish orthodox family at the age of 13.

Hadar was the first religious woman on a professional stage to dare question and challenge women’s status in Jewish law, in her first stand-up shows Pulsa and Passion Killer. Her plays Mikveh and The Secrets also brought up some challenging questions for the orthodox community. Hadar paid at times a high price for her controversial texts, but also gained many followers, especially women, and her writings became part of a social change.

Her plays Mikveh, The Secrets, I-Mama (a comedy on the challenges of modern Motherhood), and Whistle have been translated into several languages and produced Internationally. Until Covid, Mikveh was on stage at the Habima National theatre in Israel and five Municipal theatres in Europe. (Hopefully after Covid they’ll be back.)

Hadar is currently performing (mostly online) with her monodrama Whistle, as well as Passion-killer. Her latest play My first Jewish , (on the identity crisis of Czech Jews today) is currently in rehearsals and will hopefully be premiered Internationally in November The Secrets, by Hadar Galron 2020. She is also working on a (second) tv series, she created. Directed by Hadar Galron Hadar is a professional lecturer and compere both in Hebrew and English. She is happily separated and has 3 children.

Hadar has achieved National and International awards for her works, in both theatre and cinema.

The Secrets, by Hadar Galron Directed by Hadar Galron

The Secrets, by Hadar Galron The Secrets, by Hadar Galron Directed by Hadar Galron Directed by Hadar Galron 18 Maya Arud Yasur Maya Arad Yasur is a playwright and dramaturg. She holds a Master’s degree in Dramaturgy from the University of where she graduated with distinction.

As a playwright her plays deal with issues of identity, exile and war through the dissection of narrative mechanisms. Her plays have been produced and published in Israel, Germany, the UK, Austria, Norway, France, Cyprus, Italy, Finland, the U.S., Poland and China.

She is the recipient of the Berliner Theatertreffen Stückemarkt prize for her play Amsterdam, the International Theatre Institute prize for her play Suspended and the Habima Award for her play God Waits at the Station. Her last play Blaue Stille (Blue Silence) has just opened at landestheater schwaben Memmingen, Germany (October, 2020).

In 2007-2013 Maya has been living in Amsterdam, working as a production dramaturge, specializing in devised theatre processes of documentary theatre.

Q&A with Maya Arud Yasur Current City: Tel-Aviv

Artistic Role: Playwright Blaue Stille (The Exiteers, 2020), by Maya Arad Yasur Directed by Sapir Heller First Theater You Remember Seeing: My Fair Lady, when I was 10. Landestheater Schwaben Memmingen, Germany First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: I’ll go to a crowded place Photo: Forster and cough.

Amsterdam (2018), by Maya Arad Yasur God Waits at the Station (2014), by Maya Arad Yasur Directed by Mor Frank Directed by Shay Pitowsky Theatre Haimba Photo: Yossi Tzveker Photo: Gérard Allon 19 Noam Gil Noam Gil (1979) is an award winning and critically acclaimed playwright whose plays were shown in various theaters in Israel.

He is the recipient of “The Israeli Fringe Awards” for The Best Playwright Award (for writing the play, The Settler, 2016) and the First Prize of Tzavta Theater Reading Festival (for writing the play, Going Out, 2007).

Gil has been hailed as one of “the most entertaining, profound and unique writers to emerge “in Israeli drama (Eitan Bloom, ) as well as “fresh, smart writer, with a stimulating original voice” (Shai Bar Yaakov, ).

Gil holds a PhD. in Literature and is teaching creative writing at Tel Aviv University and Ben Gurion University. Q&A with Noam Gil Pronouns: He/Him

Current City: Even Yehuda, Israel

Artistic Role: Playwright

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Chanoch Levin’s The Child Dreams Lady Amar, by Noam Gil Favorite Jewish Food: Tzimmes Directed by Yigael Sachs Tmuna Theater First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Fly away

The Settler, by Noam Gil Jungle at the Villa, by Noam Gil Directed by Yigael Sachs Directed by Yigael Sachs Tmuna Theater Tmuna Theater 20 Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari, is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, playwright, film director and a two-time winner of the . She is a women’s rights activist, and has dedicated her career promoting awareness regarding social justice issues and cultural diversity. In 2015, she was invited to speak at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in honor of International Women’s Day, where she presented a screening of her film Orange People, in condemnation of child marriage.

In the early 1980s, Azoulay-Hasfari left Tel Aviv University. She became one of the founding members of the Simple Theater Group, a multi- cultural team that enabled artists to express their cultural worldview and to become the central focus of their projects. The theater group focused on representing the real experiences of people within local history, such as the first generation of holocaust survivors, and second generation of Mizrachim in Israel. Azoulay-Hasfari worked on all aspects of this theater group: She participated in fundraising, screenwriting, production and acting.

While working with the theater group, Azoulay-Hasfari performed in many plays, including the play Tashmad (1983), which won Best Play at the annual Acco Festival; Azoulay-Hasfari won Best Actress. Azoulay-Hasfari appeared in numerous stage productions in leading theaters in Israel, including the Cameri Theater, the Haifa Theatrer, Be’er Sheva Theater and Beit Lessin Theater. She has acted in many key roles including Alma in Tashmad (Samuel Hasfari); Julie in Pack of Lies (Hugh Whitmore); Amelia in The House of Bernarda Alba (Garcia Lorca); Mary & Huda A Trumpet in the Wadi (an adaptation of Sami ’s book by Samuel Hasfari); various roles in Yellow Time (adaptation of ’s project); various roles in The King (Samuel Hasfari); Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare); Miranda in The Tempest (Shakespeare); Shulamit in Nathanya (Shmuel Hasfari); and Rachel in Valentine (Rami Danon and Amnon Levy). 21 Udi Ben Moshe Udi Ben Moshe (Director), Artistic Director of the Khan Theatre. Graduated from the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, and performed at Haifa Theatre. Teaches acting at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.

Directing at the Jerusalem Khan Theatre: The Summer by Roman Weingarten, Marriage by Gogol (Israel Theatre Award for best Comedy), The Fire Raisers by Max Frisch, Madame’s Late Mother and A Flea in Her Ear by Georges Feydeau, The Great Magic by Eduardo de Filippo, The American Princess by Nissim Aloni (Israel Theatre Award for Best Revival Production), Scapin the Schemer and The Imaginary Invalid by Molière (both of which won the award for best comedy), and The Merry Wives of Windsor by Shakespeare, and Napoleon – Dead or Alive! by Nissim Aloni, Antigone by Sophocles.

Directing at the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv: Make My Heart Flutter by Hanoch Levin (awards for best play and best director), The Good Person of Szechwan by Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht (award for best translated play), Suitcase Packers by Hanoch Levin (Yosef Milo Prize for Best Director), School for Wives by Molière, Mother Courage by Brecht, Everyone Wants to Live by Hanoch Levin (Yosef Milo Prize for Best Director), The Bourgeois Gentleman by Molière, Free Exchange Hotel by Feydeau, and and Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare. Antigone, by Sophocles Directed by Udi Ben Moshe The Jerusalem Khan Theater Directing at Habima National Theatre: Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Photo: Yael Ilan Directing at Beit Lessin Theatre: Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare (award for best comedy) and The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields.

Awards: Rosenbloom Award 2008. Milo Award 2008, 2010, 2014. The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts Award 2017. Napoleon - Dead or Alive!, by Nisim Aloni Directed by Udi Ben Moshe The Jerusalem Khan Theater Photo: Yael Ilan Q&A with Udi Ben Moshe

Website: khan.co.il/eng

Current City: Jerusalem

Artistic Role: Director

Theatre Affiliations: Artistic Director, The Jerusalem Khan Theater The Imaginary Invalid, by Molière Directed by Udi Ben Moshe The Jerusalem Khan Theater Photo: Yael Ilan 22 Joshua Harmon Joshua Harmon’s plays include Bad Jews (Roundabout Underground; Roundabout/Laura Pels; West End), Significant Other (Roundabout; Broadway/Booth Theatre), Admissions (Lincoln Center Theater; West End), and Skintight (Roundabout).

His plays have been produced across the country at Geffen Playhouse, Studio Theatre, Speakeasy, Theater Wit, About Face, The Magic, and Actor’s Express, among others, and internationally in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and throughout the U.K.

Fellowships include MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and NNPN/ Actor’s Express.

He is an Associate Artist at Roundabout and a graduate of Juilliard. 23 Anike Tourse Anike Tourse is the writer and director of award winning short film short film “America;I Too,” has written for daytime serial “One Life to Live” and for sitcom series “Girlfriends”.

Anike’s projects include feature film “America’s Family;” the five stories of one family separated by one border and their journey to reunite (in production) and animated short film “Frances the Fish” about the little salmon that could.

Anike has penned and performed several solo shows touring her productions across the country as well as to the Edinburgh (Scotland) Fringe Festival; the largest international theater festival in the world, on a national Nigerian tour sponsored by the 7-UP Bottling Company and is the playwright of stage play No Milk Today which premiered at the Fermentation Fest in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Anike earned her undergraduate degree from Bates College and a Master of Fine Arts degree from The Ohio State University. 24 András Borgula András Borgula, Born and raised in Hungary in a secular family, Andras did not know he was Jewish until he was 13 years old. He founded Theater in 2013, that same year he won the best comedy award in the Hungarian Humor Festival.

In addition, Andras is the leader of the program team of the Judafest Jewish Festival and the Budapest Jewish Film Festival; he is the President of KIBIC Alliance of Hungarian Jewish NGO’s. Andras has his own radio show and regular guest in the hungarian ATV tv station. 25 Helen Marcos Helen Marcos (1989, Mexico) is a theater director, playwright, psychodramatist and group coordinator.

She published the book Theater i: impact, interaction, improvisation, (in Spanish and English) which explains the theory, philosophy and practice of an original structure made to create educational, social, community and enterprise plays, she presented the book in Mexico, Costa Rica, Portugal and India.

She directs La Caja Negra (Black box), and she has made national and international tours with them. She has also participated as a speaker in the VI American Spontaneous Theater Forum, the Independent Theater Festival, the Asylum Arts Latin America Retreat, XI Psychodrama Iberoamerican Congress and the International Playback Theater Conference.

She has professional training in visual communication, psychodrama, improvisation theater, playback theater and spontaneous theater. She writes plays, direct groups, teach music and theater and do specialized workshops with communities, schools and Enterprise. Q&A with Helen Marcos Pronouns: She/Her

Website helenmarcos.com

Current City: Mexico City

Artistic Role: Director and Writer

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Jewish Food: Shawarma Day of the Deaths Performance La Caja Negra First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Go to a concert

Te quiero hasta la luna Waiting Room Directed by Helen Marcos 26 Rachel Mars Rachel Mars is a London based, multi award-winning performance maker and writer with a background in theatre, live art and comedy. Her work explores the idiosyncratic cultural and political constructs that inform the way we are together, as people, just trying to figure it all out. She wrestles with female, Jewish and Queer identities and their intersections.

The work is text and action based. The text is sharp, witty and observational, often referencing and sending up modes of popular culture. It is poetic but comprehensible, leaving enough space for an audience to insert their own personal experiences. It interweaves personal reflection with universal questions, those of politics and place. She is increasingly interested in exploring radical forms, the power of immediacy and moments of assembly. The body in her practice is a site of personal histories, inherited behaviours and cultural expectations – both true and invented.

Recent work has included Your Sexts Are Shit: Older Better Letters – a queer archive of erotic writings, Our Carnal Hearts – a interrogation of envy with a live surround-sound choral score and Roller – a large-scale investigation of female aggression and revolution.

She has performed Internationally including at the Barbican, London; Fusebox Festival Austin; On The Boards Seattle and Brisbane International Festival.

She is a fellow at the Birkbeck Centre of Contemporary Theatre, and has taught workshops on University courses in the UK and artist development programmes in the UK, Canada and the US.

www.rachelmars.org

Q&A with Rachel Mars Our Carnal Hearts Pronouns: She/Her Photo: Claire Haigh Website: rachelmars.org

Current City: London

Artistic Role: Performer, Writer

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Being pulled out of Peter Pan (aged 3) Favorite Jewish Food: Mrs Elswood Pickled Dill Cucumber Spears Roller, by Mars.tarrab The Barbicon First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Much hugging 27 Zalmen Mlotek Zalmen Mlotek is an internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music and a leading figure in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds. Mr. Mlotek was raised in a prominent Yiddish speaking family renowned for its Jewish songbook collections. His formal training as a classical musician and conductor was at Julliard School of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Tanglewood Music Center, School of Music and Mannes School of Music. Among his most notable teachers and mentors was . Mr. Mlotek also studied conducting with Zubin Mehta, James Levine and other masters of music and conducting.

Mr. Mlotek’s deep roots in Yiddish culture, his elite musical education and his talent and passion for both have merged into a career that has revitalized the world of Yiddish music and theater. Mr. Mlotek brought Yiddish-Klezmer music to Broadway and off-Broadway stages as a co-creator, music director, and conductor of Those Were the Days, the first bilingual music honored with a and nominated for two . He was co-creator, music director and conductor for the The Golden Land, an off-Broadway hit that toured nationally and was produced in Italy under the sponsorship of Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Mlotek was the arranger and music director for Bashevis Singer’s and Robert Brustein’s acclaimed production of Shlemiel The First at Lincoln Center’s Serious Fun Festival in 1995 that subsequently toured to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and .

He is currently the Artistic Director of The National Yiddish Theater- , America’s oldest Yiddish theater. The National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene is dedicated to bringing quality performances of the spoken and sung Yiddish word, with accessible translation, to new audiences around the country. Q&A with Zalmen Mlotek

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Website: nytf.org

Current City: Teaneck, NJ

Artistic Role: Artistic Director

Theatre Affiliations: Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene First Theater You Remember Seeing: Bells Are Ringing

Favorite Jewish Food: Kugl

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Visit my daughter in Israel, go to the theater or a concert 28 David Eisner David Eisner, Co-Artistic Director of Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company in Toronto, Canada is an accomplished actor and 40-year veteran of the entertainment industry who has an impressive resume of more than 100 television, film and theatre credits over the span of his career.

One of his first acting roles was playing the neighbourhood hooligan “Guido Lefkowitz” in the iconic television series King of Kensington, and later in the CBC teen series Hanging In, in which he appeared for seven years and was nominated for two Gemini Awards. He was soon splitting his time between Toronto, New York and Los Angeles.

In 2004, he received critical acclaim for his starring role in the biopic CTV movie, Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story, playing the controversial abortion doctor who changed Canadian Abortion laws in the ‘80s.

As well as acting in over 600 episodes of “Rumours and Boarders” on CBC radio, David has directed and produced over a dozen radio plays for CBC Radio.

David and Avery Saltzman founded the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company and have been the co artistic directors for the past 13 years.

David most recently performed on stage for the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company in Lost in Yonkers and New Jerusalem Driving Miss Actually, by Anna Ziegler Daisy, and Memoirs in 2018. A co production with The Obsidian Theatre Company Directed by Philip Akin David has also directed Lally Cadeau in the play Rose and Linda Kash Starring Tony Offori and Claire Renaud in Becoming Dr. Ruth. Photo: Joanna Akyol

Rose, by Martin Sherman Q&A with David Eisner Directed by David Eisner Staring Lally Cadeau Pronouns: He/Him Photo: Joanna Akoyl Website: hgjewishtheatre.com

Current City: Toronto

Artistic Role: Producer, Director, and Actor

Theatre Affiliations: Co Artistic Director, Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company First Theater You Remember Seeing: The Mikvah, by Hadar Galron Directed by Liza Balkan Favorite Jewish Food: Chicken Soup Theresa Tova & Alice Snaden in photo Photo: Joanna Akyol First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Travel! 29 Rebecca Guber Rebecca Guber is the Director and Founder of Asylum Arts. She has worked with artists for 15 years, and before Asylum Arts was the Founding Director of the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists.

Over the past 14 years, Rebecca has built a community of artists exploring Jewish ideas and identity through fellowship commissions for new work, international retreats, and professional development. Asylum Arts and the Six Points Fellowship, both created and run under her direction, have been the most significant direct supporters of emerging Jewish artists in this generation. Artists supported through her efforts have produced tens of thousands of readings, workshops, exhibitions and performances attended by hundreds of thousands of people and featured in all major mainstream and Jewish press, radio, and national TV.

Rebecca has also worked at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and founded the Shpatzirin Festival. Rebecca lives in utopian Brooklyn with her family, where she spends her time quilting, raising bees, biking around, drinking artisanal whiskey and watering her terrarium several times a day. Q&A with Rebecca Guber

Pronouns: She/Her Asylum Arts International Jewish Artist Retreat, Website asylum-arts.org Garrison, NY

Current City: Brooklyn, NY

Artistic Role: Arts Administrator

First Theater You Remember Seeing: I was dragged to so much Shakespeare as a young child; and I wasn’t allowed to complain, but I could fall asleep. Shakespeare still often makes me sleepy. Asylum Arts International Favorite Jewish Food: Blintzes Jewish Artist Retreat, Garrison, NY First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Slobbery hugs and kisses to everyone I know

Asylum Arts International Jewish Artist Retreat, Garrison, NY 30 True Colors (three excerpts)

from The Braid / Jewish Women’s Theatre’s Salon material curated and adapted by Ronda Spinak original show co-produced by Eric Greene directed by Susan Morgenstern Images, Titles, and Technical Assistance by Daphna Shull

Both/And written by Maria Ramos-Chertok performed by Heidi Mendez

Kimchi on the Seder Plate written by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl adapted from an interview by Ronda Spinak performed by Kimberly Green

Special written and performed by Joshua Silverstein

These stories were first presented in the 2019 World Premiere of The Braid / Jewish Women’s Theatre Salon Show, True Colors. The Braid is the new name for Jewish Women’s Theatre, located in Santa Monica, California, now presenting its repertoire of shows Live on Zoom worldwide and streaming on www.ChaiFlicks.com 31 A Pickle (an excerpt)

written by Deborah Yarchun (NYC) directed by Jess Chayes (Vermont) performed by Sally Wingert* (St. Paul, MN)

*Denotes member of AEA, the union that represents live theatrical actors, performers, and Stage Managers.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota State Fair rejects Doris Rubenstein’s traditional kosher dill pickles. When Doris confronts the judges, it becomes clear that they don’t understand her traditional Jewish brining process. They also inform her they have “a difficult time judging recently arrived immigrant groups.” Doris realizes there’s more than pickles fermenting, there’s hell to raise. A Pickle is a darkly comedic look at prejudice and the power of Chutzpah (outrageous gumption). Based on a true story. 32 Our Holy Leader on Trial

written by Hank Kimmel, (, GA) directed by Mira Hirsch, (Atlanta, GA) performed by Minka Wiltz* (Bloomington, IN)

*Denotes member of AEA, the union that represents live theatrical actors, performers, and Stage Managers.

While being put on trial, Our Holy Leader, a historical and religious legend, challenges her own convictions and ours — as we the jury are about to pass judgment. 33 Deadlift (excerpt)

written and performed by Aviva Pressman* (Los Angeles) directed by Zandi Carlson (Seattle)

*Denotes member of AEA, the union that represents live theatrical actors, performers, and Stage Managers.

Deadlift is a brand new dark comedy exploring what it is to be weird and Jewish, dealing with grief, and dressing up your father’s ashes for Halloween. Deadlift is told through song and storytelling while creating live visual art. The show is bound to make you feel guilty about how much you’re laughing. 34 Eight Nights (excerpt)

written by Jennifer Maisel Written by Jennifer Maisel directed by Emily Chase Directed by Emily Chase Scenic Designer: Edward E. Haynes, Jr. Cast: Costume Designer: Alex Jaeger Younger Rebecca/Amy – Zoe Yale Lighting Designer: Karyn Lawrence Anna/Older Rebecca – Tessa Auberjonois* Sound Designer: Jeff Gardner Erich – Arye Gross* Props Designer: Shen Heckel Aaron – Josh Zuckerman New Play Dramaturg: Paula Cizmar Arlene – Karen Malina White* Photographer: Jenny Graham Benjamin – Christopher Watson Archival Videographer: John Apicella

Eight Nights tells the story of a nineteen-year-old German-Jewish refugee, Rebecca Blum, as she forges a new life in America after surviving a concentration camp. Gracefully weaving heart-aching moments with dark yet life-affirming humor, the play takes place over the eight nights of Hanukkah, spanning eight decades of her life. Eight Nights explores the refugee experience, not just of Jewish immigrants, but also the trauma mirrored in the African-American community, the interned Japanese citizens, and the current Syrian crisis. Eight Nights had its world premiere with Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale, California in October of 2019. The cast for these scenes and the director have graciously come together again to do this zoom performance. Video Direction and Narration by Emily Chase Photos from the premiere of Eight Nights at Antaeus Theatre Company. *Denotes member of AEA, the union that represents live theatrical actors, performers, and Stage Managers. 35 Day Three Schedule – Tuesday October 27 EVENT 9A — Lessons from the Field: Culturally-Specific Theaters Wrestle with Diversity, Inclusivity, and Anti-Blackness Who: Nikkole Salter, Olga Sanchez Saltveit, Snehal Desai, Rex Daugherty Moderator: Adam Immerwahr, Artistic Director of Theater J When: Tuesday, October 27, 12pm – 1:30pm Eastern Time (9am – 10:30am Pacific Time) Description: Jewish theatre represents a group that sits at the intersection of being both persecuted and privileged, both historically and currently. As our field-at-large grapples with anti-Blackness and the marginalization of Black and Indigenous artists within our industry, what lessons can Jewish theaters learn from the conversations happening at other culturally-specific theaters, such as Asian, Irish, and Latinx theaters? Where are the challenges the same and where are they different, and what language and resources can our colleagues offer us?

EVENT 9B — How to Get Your Play Produced Who: Emily Mann, Michel Hausmann, Anna Ziegler, Jill Rafson Moderator: Jacqueline Goldfinger, Playwright, Dramaturg, Granada Artist-in-Residence at UC Davis When: Tuesday, October 27, 12pm – 1:30pm Eastern Time (9am – 10:30am Pacific Time) Description: This panel will address some of the following questions (and more): How do playwrights get their plays produced? What are Artistic Directors and Literary Managers looking for? What makes a great pitch? What are some of the paths you’ve taken/seen of getting plays produced? Where are great play development opportunities?

EVENT 10 — AJT Performance Event 3 Who: A selection of performance projects chosen by AJT. When: Tuesday, October 27, 3pm – 4:30pm Eastern Time (12pm – 1:30pm Pacific Time) Truth or Laughs, written by Michelle Slonim and Ben Rosenfeld Killer Kimchi presents Jewish Tales by M.J. Kang and Killer Kimchi Baba Yana’s Mindfulness and Guilt Healing Meditation, written by Danielle Levsky The Last Cyclist, written by Karel Švenk and reconstructed by Naomi Patz Ballad of the Triangle Fire / Bread and Roses from the Dora Wasserman of the Segal Centre

EVENT 11 — AJT Annual Membership Meeting Who: AJT leaders and community members When: Tuesday, October 27, 6pm – 7pm Eastern Time (3pm – 4pm Pacific Time) Description: AJT’s Annual Membership Meeting where we will discuss our future plans, hear from our membership and vote on things.

EVENT 12 — Closing Discussion and Q&A Who: Rebecca Taichman, Director of Broadway’s Moderator: Jeremy Aluma, Executive Director of Alliance for Jewish Theatre When: Tuesday, October 27, 7pm – 8:30pm Eastern Time (4pm – 5:30pm Pacific Time) Description: A moderated discussion about where Jewish Theatre stands at this moment and what the future might be, the power of theater in this moment, how Indecent came to be, and more. A question and answer period with attendees will follow. 36 Nikkole Salter Nikkole Salter, has written 8 full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by 6 institutions, been produced on 3 continents in 5 countries, and been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional and international theatres, and the Crossroads Theatre production of her play Repairing a Nation (directed by Marshall Jones, III) was regionally aired during the second season of the WNET program “Theatre Close-Up”on NYC’s channel Thirteen, WLIC, NJTV. The National Black Theatre production of her play Carnaval was nominated for 7 Audelco awards including Best Playwright and Best Production and won for Best Ensemble Performance. Ms. Salter is a 2014 MAP Fund Grant recipient, a Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference semi- finalist, USA Fellowship nominee, a two time Playwright’s of New York (PoNY) Fellowship nominee, is currently working on a commission from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Amid an emerging acting/writing career, Ms. Salter’s deep sense of social responsibility led her to co-found (with NSangou Njikam) and serve as Executive Artistic Director of THE CONTINUUM PROJECT, INC., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that creates innovative artistic programming for community empowerment and enrichment. Their first bi-annual endeavor, The Legacy Program: Residency – an arts education, youth development initiative – launched in 2009 at the William Alexander Middle School in Brooklyn, NY. The Continuum Project, Inc. received the 2010 and 2011 Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant Award (Local Arts), a grant funded by the New York Council on the Arts’ Decentralization Program, in support of the LP: Residency. Ms. Salter as the Exec. Art. Dir. of the CP and conceiver of the Legacy Program was featured on WBAI 99.5 FM’s “Talkback with Hugh Hamilton” in NYC and was featured on the nationally broadcast PBS series, “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Harvard Professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Legacy Program was most recently in residence at the Harlem School for the Arts and continues at its flagship site in Brooklyn.

Ms. Salter is an active member of the Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Actors Center; and sits on the Council of the Dramatists Guild and serves as Chair of the Board of the Theatre Communications Group. She received her BFA in theatre from Howard University under the instruction of Al Freeman, Jr. and Sybil Roberts; and her MFA from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program under the tutelage of Zelda Fichandler and Ron Van Lieu. 37 Olga Sanchez Saltveit

Olga Sanchez Saltveit, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Theatre, Middlebury College, is Artistic Director Emerita of Milagro, the Pacific Northwest’s premier Latinx arts and culture organization.

Her work as an actor and director/devisor has also been seen in NYC, LA, Martha’s Vineyard, Peru, Venezuela, and Honduras. In 2018 she directed the US premier of Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) at Gala Hispanic Theatre (D.C.), and Tricks to Inherit, her translation/adaptation of Astucias por Heredar un Sobrino a un Tío by Fermín de Reygadas (1789) at the University of Oregon.

Olga has served as co-artistic director of the People’s Playhouse in , artistic director of Seattle Teatro Latino, and co-founder of La Casa de Artes, a Seattle-based non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the beauty of Latino arts and cultural heritage. She is a founding member of the Portland-based Latinx writers’ group Los Porteños, and edited the book, Teatro de los Muertos, a collection of photographs by Russell J. Young. Olga served on the Executive Committee and the Diversity Task Force for TCG’s Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the Latinx Theatre Commons, a collaborative initiative with HowlRound Theatre Commons, and on the BIPOC/BITOC Coalition/Commons Building Survey Design Team.

She holds a B.A. in Theatre from Hunter College, C.U.N.Y., and M.A. ¡O Romeo! (2014) in Human Development, specialization in Bicultural Development, Devised and Directed by Olga Sanchez from Pacific Oaks College Northwest. Her article “(Afro)Latinx Theatre: Milagro Theatre Embodiment and Articulation” is published in Label Me Latina/o, 2017; Photo: Russel Young and she is a contributing scholar to the anthology of Latinx plays, Encuentro, published by Northwestern University Press 2019, and Latinx Actor Training, to be published by Routledge, 2021.

Q&A with Olga Sanchez Saltveit

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Current City: Middlebury, Vermont Oedipus el Rey, by Luis Alfaro Directed by Elizabeth Huffman Milagro Theatre Artistic Role: Director/Devisor, Actor, Writer Photo: Russell Young Theatre Affiliations: Artistic Director Emerita, Milagro

First Theater You Remember Seeing:

Favorite Jewish Food: Challah

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Visit friends back home 38 Snehal Desai Snehal Desai is the Producing Artistic Director of East West Players, the US’s largest Asian-American theater company and the longest running theater of color in the country.

Before this time, Snehal was a freelance director working across the United States and the UK. He is a member of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC) and serves on the boards of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) and Theater Communications Group (TCG).

Snehal found a home at East West Players because he found it to uniquely stand at the intersection of artistry and social justice. As an artistic leader, he has sought to raise awareness on social issues that affect Angelenos by personalizing them through storytelling.

A Soros Fellow and the recipient of a Tanne Award, Desai was in the Inaugural Class of Theatre Communications Group’s (TCG) “Spark” Leadership Program. He was also the Inaugural Recipient of the Drama League’s Classical Directing Fellowship. Snehal is on the faculty of USC’s graduate program in Arts Leadership where he teaches, Executive Arts Leadership. Snehal is a graduate of Emory University and received his M.F.A. in Directing from the Yale School of Drama. 39 Rex Daugherty Rex Daugherty, is a DC based theatre artist and currently serves as the Producing Artistic Director at Solas Nua. Originally from Oklahoma City, both of his parents grew up on farms and taught him the value of hard work and good company. Rex has made the DC area his home for the past thirteen years, and he shares his life with his wife, Lee, and son, Beckett. Beckett is three years old and loves to crash any and all Zoom meetings.

During his five years at Solas Nua, Rex has garnered international acclaim for his productions, earned multiple Awards and nominations, and provided the company with steady artistic and financial growth. His work has been featured in , The Washington Post, on the cover of American Theatre Magazine, The Irish Times and aired on RTE - Irish TV. Recently, his one-man show The Smuggler was listed by The New York Times as one of the best theatre productions of 2019, nationwide.

As an actor, he has performed at The Kennedy Center, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The National Theatre, The Warner Theatre (with the legendary Eartha Kitt), Ford’s Theatre, Signature Theatre, Round House Theatre, Folger Theatre, Rep Stage, Solas Nua, and Off Broadway at 59E59. Daugherty has received three Helen Hayes nominations as part of Outstanding Ensembles and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. The Smuggler, by Ronán Noone Directed by Laley Lippard As a writer, his work has been produced regionally for over ten years. Solas Nua Most recently, his musical The Devil & June Gantry was a semi-finalist Photo: DJ Corey LLC at The Eugene O’Neill Center’s American Music Theater Festival. Rex tries to blend his past time as a singer songwriter into as many shows as possible, and has written several TYA musicals which have enjoyed regional theatre productions. Check out more music and theatre news at rex-daugherty.com! Q&A with Rex Daugherty (rhymes with ‘party’) The Frederick Douglass Project, by Pronouns: He/Him Psalmayene 24 and Deirdre Kinahan Directed by Raymond O. Caldwell Website: rex-daugherty.com Solas Nua Photo: Teresa Castracane Current City: Arlington, VA

Artistic Role: Theatre-maker — director, actor, singer-songwriter, sometimes playwright Theatre Affiliations: Producing Artistic Director, Solas Nua

First Theater You Remember Seeing: A church Christmas pageant. The Book of Will, by Lauren Gunderson They had a real donkey! Directed by Rex Daugherty Favorite Jewish Food: Is there anything better than hot pastrami? Oklahoma Shakespeare Photo: Oklahoma Shakespeare First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Travel. Probably to Katz’s Deli for hot pastrami. Share my pickles with a stranger. 40 Adam Immerwahr Adam Immerwahr has served as the Artistic Director of Theater J since 2015. He has also served as the associate artistic director of Tony Award-winning McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NJ) and the resident director of Passage Theatre (Trenton, NJ).

Adam served on the producing team of multiple productions that have transferred to Broadway and Off-Broadway, including the world premiere of ’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (which won the ).

As a director, his work has been seen across the world, from Aspen to Zimbabwe. He has directed off-Broadway and at many of the nation’s premier regional theaters, such as McCarter Theatre, Walnut Street Theater, Cleveland Play House, Woolly Mammoth and others.

He is a recipient of both the NJ Theatre Alliance “Applause Award” and the Fairleigh Dickinson University / Center for Nonprofits “Emerging Nonprofit Leader Award.”

He currently serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theater and is an inaugural member of the Director’s Council of the Drama League. Q&A with Adam Immerwahr Sheltered (2019), by Alix Sobler Pronouns: He/Him/His Directed by Adam Immerwahr Theater J Website: www.adamimmerwahr.com Photo: Teresa Castracane

Current City: Washington, DC

Artistic Role: Director and Producer

Theatre Affiliation: Artistic Director, Theater J

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Camelot at a theater somewhere near Cape Cod Favorite Jewish Food: Challah The Jewish Queen Lear (2019), translated by Nahma Sandrow First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hug everyone Directed by Adam Immerwahr Theater J Photo: Colin Hovde 41 Emily Mann Emily Mann is an American director, playwright and screenwriter. She has served as the artistic director and resident playwright of the McCarter Theatre Center since 1990.

As McCarter Theatre Center’s Artistic Director and Resident Playwright since 1990, Emily Mann has overseen more than 160 productions, including more than 40 world premieres – creating a home for theater legends and amplifying the voices of women and people of color. During her tenure, the theater won the prestigious Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre and Emily herself was twice nominated for Tony Awards® as a playwright and director. Her other numerous personal awards include: The Peabody Award, the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild, the Helen Merrill award, awards from the NAACP, eight Obie awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2011 Person of the Year Award from the National Theater Conference, as well as the Award, given to a “citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere.” Mann also received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Princeton University.

Mann’s nearly 50 McCarter directing credits include productions by , , , and and the recent world premieres of Christopher Durang’s Turning Off the Morning News; ’s adaptation of ’s Murder on the Orient Express; Rachel Bonds’ Five Mile Lake; ’s The Convert; ’s The How and the Why; Christopher Durang’s ; and ’s , adapted by Emily Mann and Pierre Laville from Tennessee Williams Me, Myself and I. Broadway: , Anna in the Directed by Emily Mann Tropics, Execution of Justice, Having Our Say.

Her plays include: Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Annulla, An Autobiography; Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Mrs. Packard, and Hoodwinked (a Primer on Radical Islamism). Adaptations: Baby Doll, Scenes from a Marriage, , , A Seagull in the Hamptons, The House of Bernarda Alba, Antigone. Gloria: A Life, by Emily Mann Directed by Emily Mann

Meshugah Adapted by Emily Mann Directed by Emily Mann 42 Michel Hausmann Michel Hausmann is a Venezuelan-born theater director, producer, and writer. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Miami New Drama, the resident company and operator of the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach.

Under his artistic leadership Miami New Drama has produced: Our Town (also Director), Queen of Basel (also Director), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (in co-production with Asolo Rep), The Album (in co-production with Tectonic Theater Project), A Special Day (in co-production with The Play Company), Terror (Directed by Gregory Mosher), One Night in Miami... (Directed by Carl Cofield), Fake (Directed by Carl Andress), Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy (also Director), Viva La Parranda!, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Directed by David Greenspan), The Cubans (Directed by Victoria Collado) and A Wonderful World (Directed by Christopher Renshaw).

Hausmann’s Off-Broadway credits include the New York Premiere of Vassily Sigarev’s Black Milk and the New York premiere of The Color Of Desire, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author .

Michel received an MFA in Theater Directing from . He is a New York Theater Workshop 2050 Fellow, a Shubert Presidential fellow, an IRNE nominee, a Richard Rodgers Award finalist, and a two-time Knights Arts Challenge Award recipient. A Wonderful World, by Aurin Squire Directed by Christopher Renshaw Miami New Drama Photo: Stian Roenning Q&A with Michel Hausmann Pronouns: He/His

Website miaminewdrama.org

Current City: Miami Beach, FL Queen of Basel, by Hilary Bettis Directed by Michel Hausmann Artistic Role: Miami New Drama Director / Producer Photo: Stian Roenning Theatre Affiliation: Artistic Director

First Theater You Remember Seeing: A puppet show in the streets of Caracas sometime in the early 80’s. Favorite Jewish Food: Vareniki

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hug and kiss my 94 year old granpa! The Golem of Havana, book by Michel Hausmann. Directed by Michel Hausmann Miami New Drama Photo: Stian Roenning 43 Anna Ziegler Anna Ziegler has written the plays Actually (produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geffen Playhouse, Trafalgar Studios and others; L.A. Ovation Award winner for Playwriting for an Original Play), the widely produced Photograph 51 (directed on the West End by and starring Nicole Kidman; WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play; named the number one play of 2019 by the Tribune and in other years selected as a “Best of the Year” play by The Washington Post and The Telegraph; upcoming publication in Methuen Drama’s Modern Classics series), Boy (Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award nominee), The Wanderers (The Old Globe; Craig Noel Award winner for Outstanding New Play; upcoming: Roundabout Theatre Company), The Last Match (Roundabout Theatre Company; The Old Globe; upcoming: Writers’ Theatre, Chicago), and A Delicate Ship (New York Times Critic’s Pick; The Playwrights Realm; Cincinnati Playhouse).

She holds commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, The Manhattan Theatre Club and The Geffen Playhouse. Oberon Books has published a collection of her work entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One and nine of her plays are published by Dramatists Play Service.

Recent notable: Photograph 51 at Theatre Company (Australia); The Great Moment at Seattle Rep (world premiere) Photograph 51, by Anna Ziegler and Antigones at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and the O’Neill Noel Coward Theatre, London’s West End Playwrights Conference. She is developing television and movie Directed by Michael Grandage projects at HBO Max and Scott Free Productions. Starring Nicole Kidman Photo: Johan Perrson Q&A with Anna Ziegler Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Website: annabziegler.net

Current City: Brooklyn, NY Actually, by Anna Ziegler The Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles) Directed by Tyne Rafaeli Artistic Role: Playwright Photo: Chris Whitaker

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Cats! And I was terrified one of the actors roving the audience was going to touch me. (This hasn’t changed.)

Favorite Jewish Food: Matzo brei

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Visit my 102 year old The Wanderers, by Anna Ziegler grandfather in DC and my 9 month old niece in Toronto. The Old Globe Theatre (San Diego) Directed by Barry Edelstein Photo: Jim Cox 44 Jill Rafson Jill Rafson is the Director of New Play Development for Roundabout Theatre Company, where she also serves as Associate Producer for Roundabout Underground. Plays developed with Roundabout include Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate, Sons of the Prophet (Pulitzer Finalist), and The Humans; Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews and Significant Other; Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days; Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still; Jeff Augustin’s Little Children Dream of God; Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone; and many more.

Jill has worked with The Broadway League, New York City Center, Local Theater Company, and ART/NY, and has been a Dramaturg and member of the Artistic Council for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Jill has been a Dramaturg for CollaborationTown, The Playwrights’ Center, Fault Line Theatre, and for the Flea Theatre’s acclaimed 48-playwright epic reimagining of the Bible, The Mysteries.

She has lectured for the Commercial Theatre Institute and Explore New York, was a nominator for Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Awards, was a member of NYFA’s Emerging Arts Leaders program, and is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.

Q&A with Jill Rafson Pronouns: She/Her

Current City: Brooklyn, NY

Artistic Role: Producer/Dramaturg

Theatre Affiliations: Associate Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre Company

First Theater You Remember Seeing: Recording of original production of Into the Woods on PBS Favorite Jewish Food: Chocolate Babka

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hugs 45 Jacqueline Goldfinger Jacqueline Goldfinger (she/they) grew up in the rural South and is best known for her work in the Southern Gothic genre. She won the Yale Drama Prize, Smith Prize, Generations Award, Brown Martin Award, Barrymore Award, and Philadelphia Critics Award. Her plays have been on The Kilroy’s List (twice). She’s been nominated for the Weissberger Award, Blackburn Prize, Tait Black Prize, and Foote Prize. Her book, Bottle Fly, published by Yale Press, was a finalist at the International Book Awards.

Her plays have been produced at theaters including: The Kennedy Center, Perseverance Theatre, The Court Theatre/New Zealand, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Capital Stage Company, Hangar Theatre, The Seattle Public, Theatre Exile, Unicorn Theatre, The Vortex, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. Her plays have been developed at theaters including: New Georges/Off-Broadway, The National Theatre/London, Wilma Theatre, La MaMa, Disquiet/Lisbon, McCarter Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Barrow Group/ Off-Broadway, Arden Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Kitchen Dog Theater, Sacred Fools, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, and Kansas City Rep. Her choral librettos include Set Myself Free for Amuse Singers (NYC) and Halcyon Days for Voces8 (UK). She and Composer Melissa Dunphy are working on a new which will world premiere in 2023 at Oberlin Opera tentatively titled Alice Tierney. She is an Affiliated Artist at New Georges, National New Play Network, and The Lark Playwright’s Center.

Her work has been supported by YADDO, Opera America, National The Arsonists, by Jacqueline Goldfinger Endowment for the Arts, The Millay Colony, Grenada Artist-In- Directed by Art Rotch Residence at UC Davis, The Lark’s Playwrights Week, The Orchard Photo: Perseverance Theatre Project, Audrey Residency, Drama League, Emerson Stage, Sewanee Writers Conference, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Independence Foundation, and The Mitten Lab, among others. Representation: The Gurman Agency. Q&A with Jacqueline Goldfinger

Click, by Jacqueline Goldfinger Pronouns: She/They Directed by Rudy Ramirez Vortex Theatre Website: jacquelinegoldfinger.com Photo: VTE Current City: Philadelphia, PA

Artistic Role: Playwright-Dramatrug

Theatre Affiliations: Visiting Professor of Theatre, UC Davis

First Theater You Remember Seeing: School skit with a farmer! Babel Stage Reading Independence Foundation Fellowship Favorite Jewish Food: Matzah and horseradish Photo: Plate 23 Photography First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Hug my neighbors 46 Truth or Laughs

A virtual interactive comedy show where you can win real shekels. written and performed by Michelle Slonim (Comedy Central) and Ben Rosenfeld (Comedy Special on Amazon Prime) NYC

On Michelle’s wedding day, under the chuppah, in front of all of her friends and family, the rabbi called the bride to be “relentless.” Coming to her defense, her husband Ben said, “Hey! That’s why we’re here!” For as long as comedians have told stories, audiences have wondered, “Did that really happen?!?”* Join us for “Truth or Laughs?” – a virtual, interactive comedy show where you can win real shekels. Hosted by New York City comedy couple Ben Rosenfeld and Michelle Slonim, the show takes the audience behind-the-scenes of funny stories with hilarious reveals where the entire audience guesses what parts of the story are true and what was made up just for laughs. Please have your video on and microphone unmuted (if you’re in a quiet room). Seeing your smiling faces and hearing your laughs makes the show. *For those wondering, in real life, the rabbi actually called Michelle “relentless” but Ben didn’t defend her honor. truthorlaughs.com 47 Killer Kimchi presents Jewish Tales

Killer Kimchi is a majority Asian-American improvisation troupe that specializes in long form narrative genre improv that has performed in many virtual shows including: Hideout Theater (Austin), Palm Beach Improv Festival (Miami), PopUp Improv (Baltimore), Bandit Bit Bonanza (Seattle) and will be performing for the Nursery Theater in November (London, England.) We feature improvisors from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Austin. Members include: Karen Forman, Brian Sniegowski, Christine Chang, Jennifer Chan, Marcos Sandoval, Virginia Gabby and M.J. Kang. Individually, we are actors, playwrights, comedians, storytellers, marketers, software engineers and graphic designers. 48 Baba Yana’s Mindfulness and Guilt Healing Meditation

written and performed by Danielle Levsky (Chicago, IL)

Baba Yana, everyone’s favorite Soviet Jewish Grandma , was scheduled to lead a 10-part mindfulness and guilt healing meditation in an autumnal retreat in the woods of Wisconsin. Due to COVID-19, the retreat was canceled, so Baba is very excited to offer a sneak peek into her meditation for the Alliance for Jewish Theatre Conference online. 49 The Last Cyclist (Excerpt)

originally written by Karel Švenk in the Terezín in 1944 reconstructed and reimagined by Naomi Patz, Playwright Edward Einhorn, Director Cast Craig Anderson Jenny Lee Mitchell Lynn Berg Eric Emil Oleson Judith Blazer Patrick Pizzolorusso Kirsten Hopkins Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld Timur Kocak Clay Westman Ambrose Martos

The Last Cyclist is the film capture of a stage play based on a comedy originally written in the Terezín Ghetto in 1944 by Karel Švenk. Švenk, a young Czech actor/director, died on a forced march at the age of 28. Rediscovered, reconstructed and reimagined by Naomi Patz, it pits bike riders (read: Jews) against the lunatics (read: Nazis) who seek to destroy them. Through caustic, slapstick humor, the film – like the original – warns about the dangers of totalitarian behavior and the frightening extremes to which prejudice and bullying are leading today even as they did during . www.thelastcyclist.com

LEAD MEMBERS OF THE CREATIVE TEAM: Alexander Jorgensen, Director of Photography Richard Baldomero, Sound Mixer, Daryl Bornstein, Sound Editor, Tom Lee, Set Design and Animation for the opening title sequence, Mark Podwal, Artwork for the opening title sequence Jeff Nash, Lighting Design Ramona Ponce, Costume Design Incidental Music: Stephen Feigenbaum, Composer Hawthorne String Quartet under auspices of Mark Ludwig, Terezin Music Foundation 50 Ballad of the Triangle Fire / Bread and Roses

Presented by the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, , Canada.

In the fall of 2018, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre presented A Bintl Brief, one of our most popular and produced plays.

One of the new elements we brought to this Bintl was the incorporation of music and song that weaved throughout the play. Most notable was the medley of two iconic English songs: “The Ballad of the Triangle Fire” and “Bread & Roses.” These songs commemorate the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which claimed the lives of 146 young women in March 1911, while highlighting the pioneering role that women, in particular, played in fostering political, social, labour and economic reform in its aftermath. “Ballad of the Triangle Fire / Bread and Roses” A Yiddish world premiere Produced by Ben Gonshor Inspired by an excerpt from The Golden Land – Created by Zalmen Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld “Ballad of the Triangle Fire” “Bread and Roses” Lyrics and Music by Ruth Rubin Written by James Oppenheim Translated into Yiddish by Aron Gonshor Music by Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña and Edit Kuper Translated into Yiddish by Aron Gonshor and Edit Kuper 51 Rebecca Taichman Rebecca Taichman (Director). 2017 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Indecent written by (Yale , La Jolla Playhouse, The Vineyard Theater, Broadway at The Cort Theatre).

Rebecca has directed on and off Broadway, new plays and classics, musicals and opera. She has worked with writers Jocelyn Bioh, , Danai Gurira, Enda Walsh, Brian Selznick, Kirsten Greenidge, Nico Muhly, David Adjmi, and Stephen Karam among others.

She has worked at theaters such as The Roundabout Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public Theater, , MCC, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Old Globe Theatre, ART, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter, Woolly Mammoth, and others.

Rebecca is a resident director at The Roundabout Theatre in NYC, a Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute, and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. www.rebeccataichman.com 52 Jeremy Aluma Jeremy Aluma, is an award-winning, Jewish-American theatre director and producer of Iraqi descent. He founded the internationally touring clown troupe, Four and served as artistic director during the first seven years. He is the current Executive Director for Alliance for Jewish Theatre. Directing credits include: Abraham & Isaac (MuBe Cultural Theatre, São Paulo, ); Four Clowns (La MaMa, NYC); Pinocchio and Robin Hood (South Coast Repertory, CA); Sublimity (Theatre Row, NYC); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Theatre on the Lake, Chicago); Lunatics & Actors (Shakespeare Center, LA); Henry’s Potato (REDCAT, LA); Beyond Dark (Odyssey Theater, LA); Jonah (Annenberg, Santa Monica); Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) (Sacred Fools, LA); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Urban Theatre Movement, LA); and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (Alive Theatre, Long Beach). Four Clowns, a show Aluma conceived and directed, toured to La MaMa (NYC), Chopin Theatre (Chicago), Gremlin Theatre (St. Paul, MN); Exit Theatre (San Francisco); Indy Fringe Theater (Indianapolis); Space 55 (Phoenix); and Insurgo Theater Movement (Las Vegas) amongst others.

He is the recipient of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Cultural Exchange International Grant, the City of Santa Monica, Annenberg Community Beach House Residency, and the Long Beach Arts Council Community Project Grant. Since graduating Cum Laude from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Directing, Aluma has attended prestigious training programs such as, the Master Conservatory program in Bali, Four Clowns, Conceived and Directed by Indonesia; Director’s Lab West; and The Actor’s Center in NYC. He Jeremy Aluma La MaMa (NYC) continues to teach and take classes at The Clown School and received Photo: John Collins his MFA in Directing at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Aluma is a member of SDC, the union for stage directors and choreographers. A Dybbuk, adapted by www.jeremyaluma.com Tony Kusher Directed by Jeremy Aluma The Theatre School at DePaul (Chicago) Q&A with Jeremy Aluma Photo: Michael Brosilow Pronouns: He/Him

Website: jeremyaluma.com

Current City: Chicago

Artistic Role: Director, Producer

Theatre Affiliations: Executive Director, Alliance for Jewish Theatre The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, by Kristoffer Diaz First Theater You Remember Seeing: Giant puppets Directed by Jeremy Aluma Red Theater (Chicago) Photo: Matthew Freer Favorite Jewish Food: Homemade Shakshuka

First Thing You’ll Do Post-Pandemic: Continuously have people over for dinner. 53 Virtual Conference Script Reading Team 1 Round Ari Weinberg Marc Frost David Eisner Panka Paskuj Deborah Baer Mozes Sam McLean Susan Lodish Wendy Kout 2 Rounds Ariel Martz-Oberlander Ellen Sullivan Hal Schneider DS Magid Zelda Dean Art Feinglass Si Kahn Adam Immerwahr Multiple Rounds Toby Klein Greenwald Jesse Bernstein Hank Kimmel Danielle Levsky Jeremy Aluma 54 Semi-Finalists The following plays were semi-finalists for AJT’s 2020 Virtual Conference Performances.

Allan Sherman: Unmasked! by Linden Waddell American Courage In A Fulfillment Centerby Casey J. Adler Better Have This Memorized by Mallory Jane Weiss Blessings from the Pandemic by Rich Orloff Head The Year by Robin Pullen Just Give Me One Half Hour With My Mother by Deb Margolin Lemon Pepper Wet & M.J. Kang by Leonard Smith Jr. My Brief Affair With the Minister by Ari Roth on behalf by Ariel

Purse Ziti by Robyn Shrater Seemann ROSE Hashana by Flash Rosenberg The Store by Tiffany Parks A Soviet Child Meets Mikhail Gorbachev by Sofya Tamarkin Unfinished Threadby Amy Oestreicher The War Orphans by Lawrence J. Dukore