Next Year…Jerusalem

In Every Generation – Victory Gardens Theatre

In Ali Viterbi’s new play, now having its world premiere at Victory Gardens, the close-knit Jewish Levi-Katz family are gathered together to celebrate their Passover Seder. The time is the present, and this evening there are three generations at the dining room table: grandparents, Davide and Paola; their divorced daughter, Valeria; and her two daughters, Yael (nicknamed Yaya), and Devorah (called simply Dev), her adopted Chinese-American sibling. 

Over the course of two acts and four millennia, the family members change or get older and younger, and the audience sees how Passover has been both the same and very different for this clan over the centuries. Languages, locations and the years shift throughout, but the traditions of the Seder always remain the same, bringing comfort in their predictability. 

The Seder, for those unfamiliar with this religious practice, is a ceremonial dinner that Jews celebrate to commemorate God freeing their Hebrew slave ancestors and their subsequent Exodus from Egypt. During the celebratory evening, the family takes turns reading from the Haggadah, singing and asking the four questions, while dining on specific foods, such as red wine, (vegan) brisket and matzo ball soup. The Passover celebration always concludes uttering and repeating a hopeful wish, “Next year…Jerusalem.”

But at this particular Passover Seder, the Levi-Katz clan is contending with a myriad of their own personal problems and issues. Concerns and questions about the future of the two girls, the care required for aging family members, the hopes and demands of the Jewish religion with its many traditions, continual racial and religious prejudice, expectations of the parents and grandparents, acceptance of being homosexual, constant sibling rivalry and quarreling, body imaging and many other controversies, dominate the evening’s conversation. The first act is set in the present-day. But in Act II, we travel ahead into the future, then back into the past, then further back into the days before the Birth of Christ. Throughout every era, however, the challenges that face those of the Jewish faith, and simply being a member of a family, continue to emerge.

Devon de Mayo has directed Ali Viterbi’s latest play with a sharp eye and ear for real family situations. This particular holiday gathering looks and sounds just like any other family dinner, Jewish or Christian. We have the children bickering and fighting, the parents criticizing and offering an ultimatum, the grandparents dishing out their loving praise and support and trying to restore peace at the dinner table. 
Andrew Boyce and Lauren Nichols have co-created a special environment for this multi-millennial story that’s as close to being an intimate, arena production as possible. The Victory Gardens Main Stage Theater is a proscenium venue. But the scenic designers have removed the first three rows of the auditorium and placed them onstage, creating an alley style of presentation. The audience, sitting on opposite sides of the acting space, are viewing the production as if at the dinner table with the characters. And all around the stage floor are shallow piles of sand, which will figure prominently in the final scene. And high above the stage, Yeaji Kim’s projections provide subtitled translations for the Hebrew, Italian and even the English spoken by the various characters.

Ms Viterbi’s two-act drama also contains its share of humorous dialogue and comic moments. The play, which spans decades of time and miles of space, is the story of each individual character. However, as directed by Devon de Mayo, the primary focus of this production seems to be on the two daughters. Perhaps its because the actors playing these roles are so strong and captivating. Sarah Lo, who plays Dev, creates a powerful, yet likable young woman, filled with passion, pain and understanding. Just as she did in Griffin Theatre’s “Mlima’s Tale,” playing several different roles, and again as Liat, in Drury Lane’s “South Pacific,” Ms Lo effortlessly commands the attention of every audience member with her three-dimensional characterizations. Talented young Esther Fishbein is a relative newcomer to the Chicago theatre scene, although she’s appeared in productions at Babes With Blades and First Folio Theatre. But this is a gifted actress to watch. She’s as natural as she is impressive and portrays Yael with great honesty and depth.

The adults in this production are all very good, with Carmen Roman, playing Paola, the standout. She’s remarkable in every moment she creates, a striking and splendid character actress, with a resume to prove her talent. In this play she’s mastered both Italian and Hebrew, and convincingly portrays Paola as a young woman as well as an aged grandmother. She mines every ounce of humor and dignity from this character while maintaining her role as staunch caretaker and head of the family. Paul Dillon is moving as Davide, at first a feeble grandfather unable to eat solid foods or speak, but still attuned to what’s going on around him. Later Mr. Dillon nicely plays a younger version of this character, wooing Paola, the love of his life. And Eli Katz is formidable as Dev and Yael’s mother, a loving individual trying to cope with divorce and her children’s problems. Later, in Act II, we discover her stricken with a paralyzing illness that’s left her unable to communicate, except via touchscreen. Ms Katz makes the most of this scene and evokes our sympathy.

Ali Viterbi’s latest play is having a fine, first fully-staged production here in Chicago. Soon this play will open in San Diego and it’ll undoubtedly go on to become a popular title in theatres around the country, particularly during Passover. While Jewish audiences will no doubt enjoy this play the most, details about the Seder, Passover and the Jewish religion in general will enlighten everyone and serve as a learning experience for others. And in the end, this warm story that spans generations is a universal tale of love, caring, acceptance, coping with adversity and achieving one’s goals.      

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented April 2-May 1 by Victory Gardens Theater, housed in the Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 773-871-3000, or by going to www.victorygardens.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.