Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Connecticut and the Berkshires


Regional Reviews by Fred Sokol

Bad Jews
Long Wharf Theatre

Also see Fred's review of Reverberation and Zander's review of The Dining Room


Michael Steinmetz and Keilly McQuail
Bad Jews, Joshua Harmon's play which continues on Stage II at Long Wharf Theatre through March 22nd, presents two combative cousins at verbal war with one another. Performed with zest by four actors, three of whom absolutely rant, Bad Jews includes a few darkly comedic sequences. A quality production, it features, if you will, two cousins who loathe one another and are unafraid to express those feelings. Observing this is not a pleasing experience.

If it were up to Daphna Feygenbaum (Keilly McQuail), all Jews would go to Israel and become, one assumes, Zionists. She has recently attended the funeral of her beloved grandfather Poppy and she desperately wants his "Chai" necklace. This is a symbol of life. He concealed the letter behind his tongue when he was a concentration camp victim. Daphna is at an apartment on the Upper West Side which her aunt and uncle purchased for their sons Jonah (Max Michael Miller) and Liam (Michael Steinmetz). Daphna grew up in Pennsylvania and arrived in Manhattan a few days before. Liam, mostly based in Chicago where he is a doctoral student, missed the funeral. He was in Aspen where he managed to lose a cell phone while on a ski lift. A bit into the proceedings, Liam appears at the New York apartment with his non-Jewish girlfriend Melody (Christy Escobar). Melody attempts, at first, to be conciliatory, but she is, with good reason, shocked and appalled as Daphna and Liam rail at one another. Jonah repeatedly responds that he wishes to remain a bystander and would rather not be involved.

Antje Ellerman's set design of the studio apartment focuses upon three beds, side by side; the third is actually an air mattress. Daphna thinks Liam (who despises his Hebrew name, Shlomo) and Melody should get that one. Liam, of course, does not agree.

A senior at Vassar, Daphna (who prefers this Hebrew name to her given one, Diana) wishes to become a rabbi and she will soon study in Israel—and she intends to join the army there. A graduate student concentrating on Asian culture, Liam has the Chai and intends to give it to Melody, place it around her neck as he proposes to her. Daphna, who sees herself as a good Jew and views Liam as villainous for his assimilationist tendencies, feels that the Chai should be hers.

Daphna speaks often and always aggressively. She hasn't a self-monitor and is incredulous that Liam would not yield the Chai to her. Melody, blonde and cutesy, is her physical opposite.

Comic Relief: an anecdotal story from the past, when the family gathered, decades ago, at an Asian restaurant.

Harmon, who writes pointed, effective dialogue, might have shifted the balance to include more doses of humor as a counter to the venomous exchanges between Liam and Daphna. All the while, it is evident that the grandfather was a revered and special person. The irony is that his death breeds ugly contempt between two of his grandchildren. Three out of the four people on stage suffer verbal abuse during the course of this 90 minute play.

Oliver Butler directs the show and Stage II is a wise performance choice. Anyone watching as the relatives grapple with one another will surely feel involved; the stage proximity is an asset.

So, is Daphna a narcissist or a loyal and loving Jew? Is Liam one who hopes for a loving and secular world or is he privileged and selfish? Care to speculate about the marriage between Melody and Liam? Joshua Harmon opens up these questions and many more.

Actress Keilly McQuail, a fiery lead, embodies Daphna from the moment she opens her mouth. Impossibly insistent and unyielding, she is a fighter. Michael Steinmetz was an understudy for both male roles when the Roundabout Theatre Company staged Bad Jews in New York. Now, he fits perfectly as Liam. One has to respect all four actors and this production, but this does not make this a highly likable show. There is a tenacity to it all but also mean-spirited and nasty behavior.

Bad Jews continues at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven through March 22nd, 2015. For tickets, call (203) 787-4282 or visit www.longwharf.org.


Photo: T Charles Erickson

- Fred Sokol