Playcrafters presents Wendy Wasserstein’s ‘The Sisters Rosensweig’
Coming to Playcrafters’ stage this April is a tender story steeped in Jewish culture and humor. The play centers around three Jewish (and very successful) sisters on the eve of a long awaited reunion—and a birthday. Can you hear the “oy’s” yet?
Winner of the 1993 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play, written by the talented Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, The Sisters Rosensweig is a tribute to the relationship between female siblings who, while living globally disparate lives, share a common bond that rises above everything.
“It’s a fun showwith some serious moments,” said Director Courtney Katz. “To me, it’s three sisters each trying to figure out the next step in their lives… where things are changing.”
Scene: The lovely section of Queen Anne’s Gate, London. Time: August 1991. Event: a birthday party. So what could go wrong, you ask? Insert “oy” here.
When the ladies come together to celebrate the birthday of eldest sister Sara (played by Jennifer Di- nan), a single woman not so pleased that she is turning 54 and who works as a representative for amajor Hong Kong bank, along with Gorgeous, a doctor with a radio advice show (played by Judy Winship), and Pfeni (played by Laura Shapella), a world traveling journalist, soon they’ll be receiving some unexpected company. There are a fewmore that join—or, rather, crash the party.
The more the merrier? Sibling stress aside, consider the rest of the crowd when the family event is soon complicated by various and sundry folks—not all familiar—who descend on Sara’s doorstep, including Mervyn, the New York faux furrier (played by Max Minkoff), who upon seeing her becomes instantly smitten and Pfeni’s bi-sexual theater director boyfriend, Geoffrey (played by David Scott Howell). Tess, Sara’s daughter (played by Lillian Pyskaty), and her friend, Tom (played by Gryphon Faulkner), at one point arrive and then make a hasty retreat for a political outing following the fall of the Lithuanian resistance. And Nick, a stuffed shirt Brit (played by Jim Bingley), is Sara’s on-again-off- again boyfriend who makes it quite obvious he is not above anti-Semitism. The show is produced by Chip Breithaupt.
Wasserstein once said the play is “about being Jewish.” She’s done a witty service to the social and cultural realms of being Jewish where paradox is front and center. It’s hysterical and sweet and, at times, touching.
The New York Times calls the play, “Funny. Observant. A play with wit as well as acumen… Ms. Wasserstein is, as always, the most astute of commentators.”
With the guest list as disparate as the sisters themselves, the party of The Sisters Rosensweig achieves more than what is expected, though it all adds up to a little kvetching and evenmore Mazel Tov.
If you go: Playcrafters presents: The Sisters Rosensweig at The Barn 2011 Store Road@ Rt. 73 Skippack, PA 19474 April 27, 28, 29, May 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 @ 7 pm May 7@ 3 p.m. Tickets: $17 Info: 610-584-4005 www.playcrafters.org