“If you're thinking of a career in playwriting, this book is both primer and guide.”
               -– John Bishop, playwright and director-in-residence, Circle Repertory Company

"… hysterically funny yet deliciously heartbreaking … I laughed 'til I wept 'til I laughed again. Should be required reading for any aspiring artist."
               -- Mark Rydell, film director, “On Golden Pond,” “The Rose”

"A delightful and sharply-observed coming of age story...A 'Portnoy's Complaint' for our time, often wickedly ironic."
               -- Robert Faggen, author of the biography of Ken Kesey (forthcoming, Farrar Strauss Giroux)

“… a mordantly witty reminiscence from the killing fields known as the Off-Broadway and Regional American theater… A sweetly funny object lesson on all that can go wrong on the yellow-brick road to theatrical glory.”
               -- David Garfield, author of “The Actors Studio: A Player's Place.”

"...By turns funny, angry, naughty, honest, poetic, witty, insightful ... but always unique."
               -- Jane Marla Robbins, author of "Acting Techniques for Everyday Life"

"Intelligent, personal and funny-- just like good theater!"
               -- Julia Miles, Artistic Director, The Women's Project & Productions

“A funny and sweet take on today's theater.”
               -- Robert Klein, Comedian

Reviews of God of Vengeance

GOD OF VENGEANCE by Sholem Asch, Adapted by Stephen Fife, Directed by Eva Minemar.  At the COLSAC Theater, 6902 Santa Monica Blvd., one block west of Highland. Fridays and Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 3, through April 10.  Tickets are $20.  Call 323-960-7829 or order online at www.plays411.com/vengeance.   For $5 off, mention code 205. 

REVIEWS

RECOMMENDED in the LA WEEKLY: “Sholem Asch’s early 20th century morality tale about the complicated interplay of lust, commerce, and Jewish faith and culture – a real shocker in its time – gets a quasi-contemporary treatment that mostly satisfies…It has a deliberately unsettling dynamic that walks a fine line between tragedy and titillation, and it’s to [lead actor Tom] Badal’s and director Eva Minemar’s credit that the production doesn’t shy away from the possibility of such moments often being both things at once… This is a story that revels in raw contrasts and a certain amount of melodrama to make its point.”

ACCESSIBLY LIVE:  “A lost gem from the world of Yiddish theater that shouldn’t be missed.”

LA SPLASH:  “Gut-wrenching power!”

 
Description

This is one of the most controversial Jewish plays told with a modern twist.  Asch’s play depicts a Polish-Jewish brothelkeeper’s search for salvation, as he and his wife raise their daughter “purely” upstairs, while running a brothel in his basement.  He tries to protect his daughter Rivkele from “harm” by commissioning a Torah scroll from the local synagogue.  This adaptation was originally commissioned by the Jewish Repertory Theater in NYC, and it was produced Off-Broadway at Playhouse 91.  “Palpable power… One can feel a chill run up the back of one’s neck,” wrote the New York Times.  “Uncompromising power!” hailed Variety.  In all 17 critics heralded the production, including The Village Voice, The Native and Jewish Week.   The play was then produced in Atlanta, where it was directed by the legendary Joseph Chaikin.  This is the California premiere.  The cast includes Tom Badal, Robert Costanzo, Susan Priver and Sara Shapley.