LOST IN YONKERS

by Neil Simon, directed by Nancy Carlin, featuring TJT co-founder Naomi Newman

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize & 4 Tony Awards, including Best Play!

January 6 – 16, 2011 at Kanbar Hall, JCCSF
March 31 - April 10, 2011 at Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto

A touching and humorous coming of age story about two young brothers left in the care of their formidable immigrant grandmother in Yonkers, New York.

Produced in association with the Eugene & Elinor Friend Center for the Arts of the Jewish Community Center San Francisco.

GOLDIE, MAX AND MILK

by Karen Hartman, directed by TJT Artistic director Aaron Davidman

A COMEDY!
West Coast Premiere

February 3 - March 13, 2011 at TJT

Max is a single lesbian who just gave birth. She’s unemployed, with a crumbling Brooklyn apartment, an ex on the loose, and no clue how to nurse her four-day-old baby. Enter Goldie, an Orthodox Jewish lactation consultant. Can she guide Max into motherhood? Find out…

SIX PLAYS ABOUT ISRAEL:

A Festival of Staged Readings

April 28 - May 8, 2011 at TJT

Plays by Israeli playwrights Hanoch Levin, Motti Lerner and others… 6 plays. 1 symposium. Numerous discussions. Israeli theatre artists illuminating the complex world in which they live.

Full Festival line-up and schedule still to be announced.

Presented in association with the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation.

TJT in association with Jonathan Reinis Productions Presents

Written and performed by Josh Kornbluth
In collaboration with David Dower, Director

Thursday-Saturday at 8pm
Sunday at 2pm and 7pm

at TJT 470 Florida St.
Now EXTENDED through JUNE 20, 2010

$25-$35
For tickets call or click: 415.292.1233 | Buy Now!

Josh’s usual HILARIOUS take on life is finally pointed toward his own people! This is the story of one secular Jew’s discovery of who he is and where he came from…and the mysterious, elusive artist who showed him the way.

“Hilarity segues into serious reflections…in a funny and thought provoking personal journey” -San Francisco Chronicle

“an hilarious monologue. He is an entertainer down to his bones, and the piece is extremely funny and thoroughly engaging.” -Contra Costa Times

“Kornbluth’s most deeply considered piece, and it’s the first one likely to elicit not only belly laughs but a lump in the throat.”- San Francisco Examiner

Original workshop commissioned by the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

The Traveling Jewish Theatre is itinerant no more. Founded in 1978, the company began by roaming to dozens of cities worldwide before establishing a venue of its own at San Francisco’s Project Artaud Studios in 1994. Last fall, the theater finally changed its name to acknowledge its status both as a permanent fixture in the Mission and as a major player in the local arts scene. It’s now the Jewish Theatre San Francisco — and while the name may have changed, the theater hasn’t. The company opened its 2009-2010 season with a smart exploration of the affinities between vaudeville and hip-hop, continued with a puppet show about the Holocaust, and closed with a one-man comedy about Andy Warhol’s influence on the Jews. Even if you don’t love everything the Jewish Theatre does, you have to admire its singular devotion to producing some of the most fiercely inventive shows in town.

at TJT 470 Florida St.
February 4 – 28, 2010

Thursday @8pm: Pay-What-You-Can at the door
Friday @8pm: $20
Saturday @8pm: $34 general, $30 students and seniors
Sunday @2pm & 7pm: $34 general, $30 students and seniors

Inspired by Nordic and Yiddish folktales, Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz pushes the boundaries of theatrical expression to explore one man’s search for home – and the ways in which individual choices leave an indelible impression on history. Fabrik uses hand-and-rod puppets, masks and original music created and performed by New York City’s Wakka Wakka Productions to tell the story of Moritz Rabinowitz, a Polish Jew who immigrated to Norway at the turn of the century in order to escape pogroms and persecution. Prior to World War II, Rabinowitz became a highly successful suit manufacturer. Chipper, fastidious and ever reciting his rules for the successful businessman, Moritz sensed the virulent anti-Semitism spreading and wrote opinion pieces in local and national journals warning of its advance. As an outspoken major employer, he was singled out for his views and eventually sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

The New York Times said, “This… powerfully affecting production capitalizes on the range of the art form [puppetry] and takes it to impressive heights.”

Co-produced with the Nordland Visual Theatre.

Discussion Series
To enrich you experience at TJT, please join us for one of our discussion series options. Look for the acronyms on each calendar to choose the series that’s right for you

A Rabbi, Therapist and Artistic Director walk into a theatre…  (RTA)
In this series 1 local Rabbi and therapist will discuss the play with Artistic Director Aaron Davidman. This discussion is sure to be entertaining and give your deeper insight into each play.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Written by Wendy Wasserstein
Directed by TJT Artistic Director Aaron Davidman

8 performances only!
at Kanbar Hall, JCCSF: 3200 California St
January 7 – 17, 2010

Winner of the 1993 Outer Critics Circle award for Best Broadway Play, Wasserstein’s hit comedy is about the reunion of three Jewish sisters who come together for a visit, and the joys and struggles they share concerning romance, careers, childhood, and family.

The play is produced in association with the Eugene & Elinor Friend Center for the Arts of the Jewish Community Center San Francisco.

TJT and The Hub of the JCCSF present
WORLD PREMIERE
by Dan Wolf and Tommy Shepherd
Music by One Ring Zero and Gebrueder Wolf
Directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang

At TJT 470 Florida St.
Oct 22- Dec. 6, 2009
Thursday @8pm: Pay-What-You-Can
Friday @8pm: $20
Saturday @8pm and Sunday @7pm: $34 general, $30 students and senior.

STATELESS is a play about performers and the power of collaboration. The show is a multi-media collage of hip-hop performance, vaudeville, magic tricks, comedy, history and folks songs that bend time, connecting these contemporary performers to a famous German-Jewish vaudeville troupe from the 1920’s, The Gebrueder Wolf. This play comes on the heels of the incredible success of Wolf’s Angry Black White Boy that played to sold out houses and had multiple extensions at Intersection For The Arts.

“Who knew vaudeville and hip-hop could work so well together? Then again, why not?” -Robert Hurwitt from the San Francisco Chronicle

‘”Stateless,’ …represents a fascinating model not just of successful creative collaboration, but of the possibilities of engaging young Jews.”- By Dan Schifrin from The Jewish Week

Discussion Series

To enrich you experience at TJT, please join us for one of our discussion series options. Please note: series marked with a C/D are for Donors only.

A Rabbi, Therapist and Artistic Director walk into a theatre…

In this series one local Rabbi and therapist will discuss the play with Artistic Director, Aaron Davidman. This discussion is sure to be entertaining and give your deeper insight into each play.
Saturday, December 5, 2009

Director Talkbacks
After the show, join the director for an insider talkback. Ask questions, give comments, and learn about the process of directing the play.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009

Subscriptions on sale NOW

Stateless: a hip-hop vaudeville experience by Dan Wolf and Tommy Shepherd, with music by One Ring Zero and Gebrueder Wolf and directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang. Produced in association with The Hub at the JCCSF. Oct. 22 – Dec. 6, 2009 at TJT 470 Florida St.

The Sisters Rosensweig by Wendy Wasserstein, directed by Aaron Davidman. Produced in association with the Eugene & Elinor Friend Center for the Arts. 8 performances only, January 7 – 17, 2010 at Kanbar Hall, JCCSF.

Fabrik: The Legend of M. Rabinowitz by Wakka Wakka Productions. February 4 – 28, 2010 at TJT 470 Florida St.

West Coast premiere of Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? Written and performed by Josh Kornbluth. Directed by David Dower. Produced in association with Jonathan Reinis Productions. April 8 – May 16, 2010 at TJT 470 Florida St.

On the choices for the coming season, Artistic Director, Aaron Davidman notes, “The breadth and depth of the art of theatre is alive and well at TJT. The plays we’ve selected bring a range of stories and genres to the stage. Each of the artists behind these works is first-rate and offers illuminating and entertaining perspectives on our times.”

Buy your subscriptions now!

Regular Subscription: $110

Preview Subscription: $60

Opening Night Subscription: $145

Subscribers get access to additional single tickets at a discount, ticket exchange privileges, and reserved seating at TJT.

by Woody Allen

Directed by Nancy Carlin

at Traveling Jewish Theatre
April 16–May 24, 2009

Thursday: Pay-What-You-Can, 8pm
Friday: $20 Dollar Fridays, 8pm
Saturday: $34 general, $30 Student/Senior, 8pm
Sunday: $34 general, $30 Student/Senior, 2pm

NEW! Sunday Evening performances @ 7pm

The Chronicle says, “…fantastic cast…fresh and snappy and, ultimately, quite moving.”

The SF Examiner says, “…this play is truly magical”

Woody Allen’s exploration of love and loneliness in a working-class Jewish family is set in 1945 in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. A teenage boy with a passion for magic tricks provides the light for his mother’s otherwise frustrated life. Her husband is a petty gambler and philanderer and the coming visit of a talent scout to see her son perform provides a promise for
a better future.

Buy Tickets

Directed by Amy Glazer

at Traveling Jewish Theatre
February 26–April 5, 2009

Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm
Sunday @ 2pm
Wednesday Matinee
March 25 @ 2pm

“…full of dark wit and gentle lyricism”
—The New York Times

“…among the most complex and daring Holocaust plays ever written.”
—The Village Voice

“Yes, this is a comedy. Margulies’ unusual mixture of outlandish invention, outrageous humor and deeply disturbing subject matter…”-Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle

“A bravura performance by Amy Resnick is as hilarious as it is horrific.”-Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle

In this masterful, yet rarely produced, dark comedy by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies we find a husband and wife in flight from much more than their memories of surviving the Holocaust. Their promise-land in the New World, a Florida condo, is anything but the refuge this aging couple so desperately seeks. Starring TJT co-founder Naomi Newman, Amy Resnick, Jarion Monroe and Anthony Williams.

Buy Tickets