Audio By Carbonatix
GableStage’s Joseph Adler has a penchant for selecting plays whose titles seem to scream at you in 44-point type. Bad Jews is one of them, with its myriad possible implications: You can picture a Hasidic man standing for a mug shot, hooker’s lipstick on collar, cocaine in his facial hair, yarmulke askew. This comedy by emerging playwright Josh Harmon is a bit more grounded than that.
Harmon’s Jews are bad because they’re committing crimes against the faith, not the state, and engaging in affronts such as gorging on shortbread cookies after Passover Seder. The setting is a present-day studio apartment on New York’s Upper West Side, where three descendants of a beloved grandfather battle for acquisition of a priceless religious heirloom — including a devoutly religious woman, her secular cousin, and his brawny, dimwitted brother. Critics have labeled the resulting humor “savage,” “scathing,” and “pungent,” while touching on issues of bereavement, love, ownership, and the perennial divide between cultural and religious Judaism. The young cast, some of whom are making their GableStage debut, includes Natalia Coego, Mark Della Ventura, Lexi Langs, and David Rosenberg. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday beginning this Saturday and continuing through December 21 at GableStage (1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables). Tickets cost $40 to $55. Call 305-445-1119 or visit gablestage.org.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m. Starts: Nov. 22. Continues through Dec. 21, 2014
