{"id":17232,"date":"2012-01-16T09:12:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T16:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=17232"},"modified":"2012-01-24T11:59:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-24T18:59:41","slug":"cynicism-mysticism-and-just-plain-judaism-in-jests-the-tenth-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=17232","title":{"rendered":"Cynicism, Mysticism and Just Plain Judaism in JEST\u2019s \u201cThe Tenth Man\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Tenth Man - JEST<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Theatergoers frequently fall into one of two categories: the cynic and the nostalgic. Jeremy Saltan, Assistant Director for JEST\u2019s \u201cThe Tenth Man,\u201d is confident that this play has what it takes to satisfy both.<\/em><\/p>\n

MidnightEast: In a nutshell, what is this play about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeremy:<\/strong> \u201cThe Tenth Man\u201d is about a small group of people in the 1960s, living in Long Island, NY and looking for a minyan. During the wait, we begin to discover how unlikely a group they really are: There is a man who believes his daughter is possessed by a Dybbuk (evil spirit), a disconnected Jew who doesn\u2019t even really understand what is going on \u2013 he doesn\u2019t even know what tefillin are, there is a Kabbalist who is trying to seek redemption, a rabbi who is trying to find his place in the new congregation… I could go on… Each of the 13 characters is going though their own struggles. But it is really a story about redemption, a story about love, and most of all-\u00a0 it\u2019s a story about what Jewish mysticism is all about.<\/p>\n

What about members of the audience who aren\u2019t very familiar with Judaism or have varying beliefs in mysticism?<\/strong>
\nJeremy:<\/strong> I think the show links us more to our tradition. I feel that regardless of their belief in Jewish mysticism, every person in the audience will find someone they are able to identify with. As the saying goes, \u201cTwo Jews, three opinions\u201d \u2013 really, I think that within these 13 characters, everyone will find something. Each character represents various outlooks on things ranging from Judaism to politics, and it is all still relevant today.<\/p>\n

What are your impressions of working with JEST, versus your more independent work at Center Stage Theater?<\/strong>
\nJeremy:<\/strong>\u00a0 The main difference I\u2019ve found between JEST and Center Stage Theater is that JEST, being the original English speaking theater in Jerusalem, has a precise structure. There is a reputation they care very much about, and they have an incredible attention to detail, way beyond anything I ever encountered – down to the details of every minor character\u2019s wardrobe. This is definitely a new standard for me, and I\u2019ve been doing my best to live up to it.<\/p>\n

You also worked on \u201cThe Chosen,\u201d which is a similarly heavily philosophical Jewish play. Are there at all any similarities between the two?<\/strong>
\nJeremy:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019ve done many other plays with Jewish\u00a0 spins –\u00a0 in 2007 I directed \u201cSure Thing\u201d at Center Stage as part of \u201cMatchless\u201d which was four different plays…, However,\u00a0 if you are looking to find a connection between \u201cThe Chosen\u201d and \u201cThe Tenth Man,\u201d you\u2019ll definitely find them. For one, there are many similar actors:
\nI\u2019m getting the chance to work again with Neil,\u00a0 Rabbi David, the Goldstein twins, who play the Kessler boys in “The Tenth Man”: secular kids who are tricked by the Shamash of the shul to get them to show up forthe minyan, because their father has a yahrzeit that day.<\/p>\n

So \u201cThe Tenth Man\u201d has a lot of recurring actors?<\/strong>
\nJeremy:<\/strong> Yes, including those I\u2019ve worked together with in other plays. It\u2019s a very tight cast. A great group of talented individuals. I\u2019m very proud of the work they put into this play. Back to the previous subject, I think if you look at the theme of both plays, it\u2019s about the place of Judaism in their respective times. [The Chosen was about] what it means to be Jewish in NY in the late 1940s, and \u201cThe Tenth Man,\u201d is about what it means to be Jewish in Long Island in the 1960s. You have the dwindling population of modern Orthodoxy and this is when it all started happening. I think \u201cThe Tenth Man\u201d speaks more to the average Jew of today.
\n<\/strong> Put it this way \u2013 anyone who enjoyed \u201cThe Chosen\u201d should enjoy \u201cThe Tenth Man.\u201d If they liked the directing or the acting, Rafi Poch[Co-Director] and I are directing again and we have many of the same actors as well as the same commitment to excellence.<\/p>\n

On that note, thank you for your time.<\/strong>
\nJeremy:<\/strong> You are very welcome. I\u2019ll see you on January 19th for opening night.<\/p>\n

The Tenth Man, by Paddy Chayefsky, performances:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday January 19th 8 pm,
\nTuesday January 24th 6 pm,
\nWednesday January 25th 8 pm,
\nThursday January 26th 8 pm,<\/p>\n

All performances held at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel’s Hotel auditorium:
\nFor tickets call:
\nJEST: 02-642-0908
\nor Bimot:02-623-7000
\nTickets are also available online at www.bimot.co.il<\/p>\n

Tickets cost 80 NIS regular, there is a 10% discount for groups of 10 people or more.<\/p>\n

More about Jeremy<\/a>: http:\/\/il.linkedin.com\/pub\/jeremy-man-saltan\/11\/521\/669<\/a>
\nJeremy\u2019s blog about the Knesset<\/a>\u00a0 –\u00a0 http:\/\/knessetjeremy.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theatergoers frequently fall into one of two categories: the cynic and the nostalgic. Jeremy Saltan, Assistant Director for JEST\u2019s \u201cThe Tenth Man,\u201d is confident that this play has what it takes to satisfy both. MidnightEast: In a nutshell, what is this play about? Jeremy: \u201cThe Tenth Man\u201d is about a small group of people in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}