FAST, FUN AND FURIOUS
In "The Fatherless Sky," A Traveling Jewish Theatre's Albert Greenberg takes a personal look at being Jewish in modern America, and how Jewish identity continues to be shaped by the turbulent events in Israel.
Begun in 1982 during the Lebanon invasion, then updated in 1993, when a televised handshake seemed to spell peace for Jews around the world, actor/musician and ATJT co-founder Greenberg once again returns to "The Fatherless Sky" for ten performances only, April 18 - May 4, 1996. The show will close ATJT's first full season at its new (and first) home, ATJT at Project Artaud, 2800 Mariposa Street, San Francisco.
In his 80-minute piece, Greenberg blends a vivid original musical score with song, movement, and biting wit to conjure a semi-autobiographical childhood, rocketing between life as an outcast struggling to survive on the streets of Chicago, to the alter-egos he devised, including redneck, the "smartest Jew in the world," and even a country singer who delivers "the greatest Country-Western song in the history of Jewish theatre."
Steven Winn of the "San Francisco Chronicle" praised Greenberg's "prismatic autobiography" which "welds personal history to global politics to create a vital theatrical alloy," while J. Scott Burgeson of the "Bay Guardian" declared the show, "proof that the personal is always political ... 'Sky' works dramatically, transcending the usual limitations of one-person performance," through "Greenberg's inventive language, ripe with excellent one-liners" and a "powerful stage presence, capable of seducing even a goy like me."
"The Fatherless Sky," directed by ATJT ensemble member Helen Stoltzfus, seemed to reach a kind of completion in 1993, when Israeli and PLO leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat clasped hands before a smiling President Clinton and an international audience, causing Greenberg to muse, "A single handshake on television and everything changes? Just like that?" The recent re-escalation of violence in the Middle East compels the actor to revisit his central theme of defining Jewishness based on the conflicts Jews have faced. "Who are you," he asks, "when the last Nazi dies?"
A Traveling Jewish Theatre was founded by Greenberg, Corey Fischer and Naomi Newman in 1978, since which time the group has collaborated in the writing, directing and performing of numerous ensemble pieces including "Coming from a Great Distance," "The Last Yiddish Poet" and most recently, "Trotsky and Frida," along with ATJT ensemble member Helen Stoltzfus. Also a composer, Greenberg has written the music for a number of ATJT productions including the recent "Trotsky and Frida," and "The Last Yiddish Poet," as well as "The Fatherless Sky." Stoltzfus has collaborated with Greenberg on "Heart of the World" and is currently developing a solo performance piece, "Like a Mother Bear."
"The Fatherless Sky" is scheduled for 10 performances only, April 18 - May 4, 1996 at A Traveling Jewish Theatre at Project Artaud, 2800 Mariposa Street, San Francisco. Showtimes are 8pm Thursdays through Saturdays (2pm Sunday, April 28), and ticket prices are $12 - $15, with student, senior and group discounts available.
A special opening gala will be held 8pm, Saturday, April 20 ($25), and Pay-What-You-Can performances are offered every Thursday night, as well as Friday, April 19 (first-come, first-served at the door). To purchase tickets by phone or to obtain information, the public may call the Theater Artaud B.O. at 415/621-7797.