Live and in person at the Harold Green Jewish Theatre, The Greenwin Theatre, Meridian Arts Centre, North York, Ont. Run: Nov. 2-10, 2024
Written by Lindsay Joelle
Directed by Brendan McMurtry-Howlett
Set by Brandon Kleiman
Costumes by Alex Amini
Lighting by Christian Horoszczak
Sound by Andy Trithardt
Cast: David Patrick Flemming
Liam Marshall
Tom Shoshani
Shaina Silver-Baird
A fascinating look into the secular and orthodox worlds of two Jewish friends.
TRAYF: adj. Yiddish. Not in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. From the Hebrew “Terefah,” meaning torn.
From the play’s website: “Zalmy lives a double life. By day, he drives a Chabad “Mitzvah Tank” through 1990s New York City, performing good deeds with his best friend Shmuel. By night, he sneaks out of his orthodox community to roller-skate and listen to rock and roll. But when a curious outsider offers him unfettered access to the secular world, is it worth jeopardizing everything he’s ever known?”
Both Zalmy (Tom Shoshani) and Shmuel (Liam Marshall) are 19 years old and devout orthodox Jewish students. As they drive around Manhattan they eat red licorice (Zalmy recites a prayer before he eats a piece); talk about the Mitzvah (good deeds) they are doing for the Rabbi; and wonder about their world. Shmuel wonders about the girl that will be chosen for him as a wife and will they be compatible. Zalmy is very curious about the secular world—a world that is forbidden to him.
When Jonathan (David Patrick Flemming enters their world, things change. Jonathan is fascinated with the Orthodox Jewish world but his mother is not Jewish, so he’s not Jewish. But he studies with Zalmy about the intricacies of Orthodox Jewish life, like putting on tefillin. He’s studying to convert. In exchange he gives Zalmy mixed tapes of music, some of which is of Elton John. Zalmy is ecstatic. Zalmy is getting closer to Jonathan and slowly moves away from Shmuel as a friend.
Liam Marshall as Shmuel and Tom Shoshani as Zalmy give lively performances of these teens. They are curious; daring in the case of Zalmy who is so intrigued by the secular world and the wonders it holds for him; and tentative in the case of Schmuel wondering what life holds for him. David Patrick Flemming as Jonathan is also curious, but not in the desperate way that Zalmy is because Zalmy is cut off from any other life by rules and restrictions. Only when he sneaks out of the house does he experience a new freedom. Shaina Silver-Baird is Leah, Johnathan’s confident Jewish girlfriend. She takes no prisoners and wonders what has happened to her boyfriend, who used to be such fun. Brendan McMurtry-Howlett directs with confidence and lets the quieter moments breathe.
Playwright Lindsay Joelle has written a fascinating play about two worlds for these Jewish characters: the closed world of the Orthodox Jew, in which even wearing jeans is forbidden (and what a luxury it is for Zalmy to find out what that feels like; and the dazzling secular world of freedom with few restrictions. It was fascinating seeing how her characters interacted and changed when the secular met the Orthodox. But I couldn’t help feel that the play needed fleshing out, as if the challenges were introduced, but not a satisfactory conclusion.
The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Presents:
Nov. 2-10, 2024.
I saw it Nov. 9.
Running time: 75 minutes (no intermission)