Plays on Jewish identity

See Josh Kornbluth perform at the Herberger Theater Center through Sunday

Valley audiences have two chances this month to explore issues of Jewish identity through the medium of performance art — as two plays take to Phoenix stages.

First, “Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?” presented by Actors Theatre through this Sunday at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix.

It’s a reflection by playwright and monologist Josh Kornbluth on a series of Andy Warhol prints that caused quite a stir when first exhibited in 1980.

The prints feature ten prominent Jews of the 20th century– including Franz Kafka, Gertrude Stein, Martin Buber, Albert Einstein, Louis Brandeis, George Gershwin, Golda Meir, Sarah Bernhardt, Sigmund Freud and the Marx brothers.

Kornbluth’s show is described as “an irreverent mix of autobiography, music, philosophy and improvisation.” It’s “a wide-ranging meditation on art and religion” that recounts, in non-liner fashion, how Kornbluth’s discovery of his own “Jewishness” was fueled by Warhol’s work.

Tickets for remaining performances are available for just $15, making this one of the best theater values in town. Perhaps Kornbluth’s musings will even inspire you to discover your own “artistness.”

See Michael Kary, Ben Tyler and Andrea Dovner perform with Arizona Jewish Theatre Company starting March 24 (Photo: Mark Gluckman)

Second, “My Name is Asher Lev” by the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company presented March 24-April 3 at the John Paul Theatre on the campus of Phoenix College.

“My name is “Asher Lev,” by Aaron Posner, is based on a novel of the same name authored by Chaim Potok. It’s the story of a young Hassidic painter in New York City who’s torn between his observant Jewish community and his need to create.”

Themes include beauty, truth, ambition and tradition. Plus “difficult choices” — between “art and faith” as well as “passion and family.”

Both works consider what it means to be Jewish and what it means to be an artist — but by vastly different means. Seeing both, I think, presents a rare opportunity to explore the diversity and depth of modern-day storytelling.

— Lynn

Note: When you visit the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company website, be sure and check out information on their summer theater camps for youth. With any luck at all, Kornbluth will decide to do a summer camp for grown-ups.

Coming up: That’s absurd!

Buber trumps Bieber

Need proof? It seems all the magazines with philosopher Martin Buber on the cover have sold out at this Eye Lounge retail respite on Roosevelt Row

Forget Bieber. It’s all about Buber. Or so one might suppose after talking with comedic monologist Josh Kornbluth.

Austrian philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965) shares a great distinction with nine fellow Jews. His face was the subject of a collection of silkscreen prints by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). The works fueled all sorts of controversy when first exhibited in 1980.

Kornbluth is in town to perform one of many pieces he’s written and taken to the stage. It’s titled “Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?” and it’s being presented by Actors Theatre March 4-20 at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix. 

I had the pleasure of talking with Kornbluth by phone recently. Our conversation glided between topics like art, education and democracy. As a one-time doctoral student in the philosophy of religion, I was tickled to find another soul better versed in Buber than in Bieber.

Kornbluth strikes me as a master of miscellany. If two ideas can be connected even remotely, he’ll do it — but not in a late night doom and gloom pundit sort of a way.

Hence Kornbluth’s resonance with Buber, a man for whom connections and relatedness were paramount. There’s more than a little irony here. One is known as the philosopher of dialogue, another as a performer of monologues.

I’m eager to learn more about Kornbluth’s experiences with the ten Jews chosen by Warhol as he took on his first bit of portraiture. Part of Kornbluth’s encounter with Warhol involves changing perceptions of his own Jewishness — but it’s also a great deal more.

I’ll share some of Kornbluth’s insights, and reflections on Arizona, in a future post — but hope you’ll see the show in the meantime. Not Jewish? Not a Warhol fan? Not a problem.

I get the feeling this show is outrageously fun and thought-provoking whatever your own sense of identity when you walk through those theater doors. But don’t be surprised if you leave with a different sense of self altogether.

— Lynn

Note: Let’s hope someone who sees the work commissions Kornbluth to write a piece about the people and politics of Arizona. Curious contenders can learn more about Kornbluth’s work at www.joshkornbluth.com. Click here to read a review from The New York Times.

Coming up: A labor of love, Musings of a monologist

Burning questions

Sunday night’s presentation of the 83rd annual Academy Awards left me with plenty of burning questions…

How did they wrestle enough gold from Glenn Beck to make all those Oscar statues? Will we ever actually see Florence’s machine? Who does costuming for Helen Bonham Carter’s off-camera wardrobe?

Can we recruit Mr. Pricklepants and Mrs. Potato Head to host next year’s Oscars? Who knew pregnant and purple was such a powerful combination? And when will I learn to say “JC Penney” and “Tim Gunn” in the same sentence without weeping?

I’ve also got lots of burning questions about Valley theater productions…

Who is the unfortunate 11th Jew who didn’t make it into Andy Warhol’s silkscreened “top ten” list? Why does technology conspire against me every time I try to interview playwright Josh Kornbluth? And how do I get my own “autobiographical monologist” gig?

How are all those folks over at Phoenix Theatre doing in the mastery of puppetry department? Are gay puppets made or are they just born that way? When will “Toy Story” be a Broadway musical so Toby Yatso can land the part of “Woody?” And what do you do — really — with a B.A. in English?

If famed actors Lunt & Fontanne were alive today, which network would carry their reality show? MTV? Bravo? Lifetime? What would all those “Design Stars” say about their tendency to confuse set design with interior decorating? And why were nine chimneys never enough for them?

Finally, a few notes to self…

Attend all future films starring actors who thanked their mothers. Buy a big girl phone so even acts of God won’t imperil interviews with really cool people. Do whatever it takes to wipe the image of Javier Bardem in a near-yellow tux out of your mind. And keep an eye on young Valley actors who may one day walk that famous red carpet.

— Lynn

Note: My three groups of questions for Valley theater companies refer to the following productions: “Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?” (Actors Theatre, March 4-20), “Avenue Q” (Phoenix Theatre through March 20) and “Ten Chimneys” (Arizona Theatre Company, through March 6).

Coming up: “Macbeth” on the road, Art adventures: Roosevelt Row