Theater

Content type
Collection
Kres Mersky in her One-Woman Show
November 5, 2024

7 Questions For Playwright Kres Mersky

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with actor and playwright Kres Mersky about her one-woman show, The Life and Times of A. Einstein.

Topics: Theater
Charlotte Charlaque

Charlotte Charlaque

Charlotte Charlaque was a transgender trailblazer, actress, and translator in Weimer Berlin and post-Shoah New York City. 

Grace Kessler Overbeke and Book Cover

Episode 116: Jean Carroll, First Lady of Laughs

Listen Now

Before Joan Rivers, there was another Jewish woman who broke ground as a stand-up comedian. Her name was Jean Carroll, and although she was a household name in the 50s and 60s, today she has been mostly forgotten. Grace Kessler Overbeke hopes her new book about Jean Carroll, First Lady of Laughs, will change that. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we talk to Grace about why Jean Carroll deserves to be remembered for changing both the face of comedy and people's ideas about what a Jewish woman could be.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Episode 115: Dr. Ruth's Radical Legacy

Listen Now

The iconic Dr. Ruth Westheimer died earlier this year at the age of 96. Dr. Ruth was a trailblazer for her candid and joyful talk about sex, regularly using words like "masturbate" and "vibrator" on the air, and talking about sexual pleasure— including women's sexual pleasure—at a time when few others did. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we remember and celebrate Dr. Ruth. Historian and author Rebecca Davis explores Dr. Ruth's radical legacy and actress Tovah Feldshuh reflects on their friendship. Plus, archival tape of Dr. Ruth herself dishing out sex advice to her devoted listeners.

Ilana Diamant at bar
August 8, 2024

A Stage, a City, and the Shadows of 'Cabaret'

Ilana Diamant

Sometimes it feels easier to show up at the same bar and sing every week than to really feel the weight of the moment we live in.

Topics: Theater
Michelle Azar as RBG
June 6, 2024

What Would Ruth Say?

Michelle Azar

A post-show conversation about RBG and Israel leads to a moment of connection. 

Topics: Theater, Israel
Actress Berta Singerman in black and white photo

Berta Singerman

Berta Singerman (1901-1998) was an Argentine actress and reciter of poetry, famous throughout the Ibero-American cultural world. Born in Russia to a family of traditional singers (chazanim), she immigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, when she was four years old.

Eleanor Harris Headshot cropped
April 25, 2024

Where Are They Now? RVF Alum Eleanor Harris

Sarah Biskowitz

JWA talks to Rising Voices Fellowship alum Eleanor Harris for our series marking the 10th anniversary of the fellowship.

Topics: Non-Fiction, Theater, Feminism
Woman with long brown hair, dark rimmed glasses and dark shirt
March 19, 2024

Q & A with Leah Berkenwald, Co-Creator of "A Feminist Romance Novel, Podcast!"

Sarah Groustra

JWA chats with Leah Berkenwald, co-creator of the new audio-drama, A Feminist Romance Novel, Podcast! Temptations at Sweetwater Creek.

Topics: Theater, Fiction, Feminism, Comedy
Woman in a theatrical performance, wearing orange tank stop and with arms in "hands up" position

Episode 104: Crying and Doing: Iris Bahr and her Aging Mother

Listen Now

Iris Bahr was halfway around the world when she saw her mother having a stroke over video chat. Within days, she was on an airplane, uprooting her life to become her mother’s primary caregiver. The stroke led to vascular dementia– an irreversible condition. Iris is a writer and actor and chronicles the story in a poignant—and funny— one-woman show See You Tomorrow.  In this episode of Can We Talk?, Nahanni speaks with Iris Bahr about caring for her aging mother and about creating art from personal tragedy. Excerpts from Iris’s show are woven throughout the interview.

Woman with puppets on each hand staging a puppet show
September 19, 2023

Women Shaping Jewish Life in Germany

Donna Swarthout and
Doris H. Gray

Women are at the forefront of efforts to change the perception and reality of Jewish life in Germany. 

Topics: Antisemitism, Holocaust, Theater, Painting
Anna Ziegler Headshot
April 25, 2023

7 Questions For Anna Ziegler

Sarah Groustra

JWA talks to playwright Anna Ziegler. 

Topics: Theater, Poetry, Plays
Beanie Feldstein, 2019

Beanie Feldstein Stars in Broadway Revival of “Funny Girl”

March 26, 2022

After several decades off the stage, Funny Girl returned to Broadway in a 2022 revival starring Jewish actress Beanie Feldstein. On March 26, 2022, Feldstein mounted the stage of the August Wilson Theatre, and stepped into the role of Fanny Brice, bringing her own comedic twist to the Jewish vaudeville character that left the theater roaring with laughter.  

Tatiana Wecshler Headshot
February 7, 2023

7 Questions For Tatiana Wechsler

Jen Richler

Our new series 7 Questions For... debuts with Black Jewish actor/singer/songwriter Tatiana Wecshler. 

Topics: Theater, Music

Sylvia Willard

Project
DAVAR: Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Sandy Gartner and Ann Buffum interviewed Sylvia Willard on June 29, 2005, in Rutland, Vermont, as part of the Vermont Jewish Women's Oral History Project. Willard shares her family history, growing up in Vermont, her passion for theater, involvement in the Jewish community, meeting her husband Howard, and their successful ventures in the retail industry.

Hannah Azoulay-Hasfari

Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari Wins Ophir Award for Best Actress for Leading Role in "Nadia "

September 20, 1987

Israeli writer, actor, director, and producer Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari consistently advocates for Mizrahi voices in her artistic pursuits. Through films and plays that often foreground Mizrahi women’s stories in Israel, she integrates her passions for art and advocacy to produce internationally acclaimed works about stories personal to her life.  

Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard is an American actor, stand-up comedian, singer, memoirist, and talk show host. She has been a high-profile LGBTQ+ presence over a career that has spanned five decades. Bernhard’s work amalgamates the three perspectives that she has said define her: “the feminist, the social commentator, the Jewess.”

Vivienne Shub

Vivienne Shub

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Elaine Eff interviewed Vivienne Shub on September 4, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Shub talks about her family background, her parents' activism, her journey as an actress, founding Center Stage in Baltimore, her involvement in cultural and political movements, her love for Jewish and Yiddish culture, and reflections on various aspects of her life and career.

Habiba Msika

Habiba Msika, Tunisian Actress and Singer, is Murdered

February 21, 1930

On February 21, 1930, Habiba Msika, a Tunisian actress and singer, was murdered. Often called the “first star of Tunis,” Msika rose to fame across the Maghreb and Middle East because of her beautiful voice and unique talent to entertain. Her life of luxury was brought to an untimely end by her murder by a jealous suitor.

Meskie Shibru

Meskie Shibru, the First Professional Ethiopian Actress in Israel, is Born

September 29, 1967

On September 29, 1967, Meskie Shibru was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After immigrating to Israel at eighteen to escape persecution, she became the country’s first professional Ethiopian actress.

Picture of Main Actresses in "Mamma Mia" Production at the Terazije Theatre in Serbia, 2015
July 6, 2022

"Mamma Mia" is a Feminist Exploration of Choice

Georgia Fried

In my view, Sophie embodies the notion of choice—a central feminist idea that is explored in the musical.

Topics: Feminism, Theater

Episode 77: Word of the Week: Yenta

graphic that says Word of the Week: Yenta

Episode 77: Word of the Week: Yenta

Listen Now

How did a popular Yiddish woman's name come to mean gossip and busybody? In the first of our new Word of the Week mini-series, we trace the evolution of the word yenta. Producer Jen Richler talks with Fiddler on the Roof scholar Jan Lisa Huttner, comedian Judy Gold, author Lizzie Skurnick, and TikTok star and Torah commentator Miriam Anzovin. And in a special cameo...Yente the Matchmaker herself!

Rain Pryor, 1993

Rain Pryor’s One-Woman Play “Fried Chicken and Latkes” Earns NAACP Theatre Award

February 21, 2005

On February 21, 2005, Jewish comedian, actress, singer, and writer Rain Pryor received an NAACP Theatre Award for her one-woman autobiographical play, “Fried Chicken and Latkes.” In the play, Pryor explores her experiences with racism growing up Black and Jewish in Beverly Hills, CA, as well as her complex relationship with her father, the late comedian Richard Pryor.

painting of a man approaching a house, with a woman waiting at the door and other family standing around watching

Images of Jewish Women in Medieval European Literature

Medieval European representations of Jewish women by Christian authors reveal anxieties about Jews and their imagined intentions. Some of these writings portray young Jewish women as easily seduced by Christian men and Christian teachings; others depict a beautiful but malevolent Jewish woman who leads a Christian boy to his ritual death. Another motif, supposed sexual liaisons between a ruler and a Jewish woman, expresses Christian perceptions of Jewish threats to the Christian state.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now