Northern California Jewish Bulletin December 11, 1998

`Diamonds in the Dark' is a 10-carat tour de force

SUZANNE WEISS

Bulletin Correspondent

"Diamonds in the Dark" sparkles like a well-polished stone.

This little gem of a theater piece, an homage to Yiddish poetry, is a fitting opener to A Traveling Jewish Theatre's 20th anniversary season. It embodies many of the values and techniques that the veteran troupe has worked with over the years, stars three of the co-artistic directors and is directed by the fourth.

All of which would be purely academic if the work was not as good as it is. But -- and take this from somebody who knows about eight words of the mamaloshen (that's Yiddish for "mother tongue" and it's one of my eight words) -- it is wonderful theater, beautifully executed.

Even at a Sunday preview matinee last week, the three performers didn't miss a beat, seamlessly weaving the 24 disparate poems into a fabric of Jewish experience ranging from joy to the tragic. They became children, cats, dogs, old people, lovers, hoodlums, survivors and an entire jazz combo in these miniatures, turning each one into a complete, if brief, story.

The poems themselves are a literary revelation. They are arranged in such a way as to hold audience interest for a full 90 minutes, with contrasts in mood, style, spoken word and song. Movement accentuates the effect.

Irena Klepfisz's "A Few Words in the Mother Tongue" has Naomi Newman playing all the kinds of Jewish women that society or the author could envisage. Her performance was so remarkable that the audience broke into spontaneous applause -- rather like what happens at the opera when the soprano delivers the star-turn aria. Another tour de force is her portrayal of a bilingual poetess, driven insane as she is caught between two languages, two worlds.

And if Newman is the diva of this company, Albert Greenberg and Corey Fischer are the "Two Tenors."

Fischer captures the audience early on in Rokhi Korn's "Crazy Levi/levy," a funny/sad little tale of a homeless Jew who literally may be dying of love. The multitalented Greenberg, who also composed the music that underlies much of the poetry, exudes a certain street-smart energy that contrasts with the tall, lanky Fischer's languid grace. The two flow into one another and then away, like two intersecting rivers. They bounce off each other like balls on a tennis court, work reminiscent of what they did in "The Last Yiddish Poet" several seasons ago.

One could continue to single out this moment and that, but "Diamonds" really is an ensemble work, the kind that genuinely defines the term. The trio of performers moves in and out of character, connecting and coming apart, echoing and standing alone, with an almost choreographic precision and grace. Each actor is accomplished on his or her own; together they present a triple theatrical whammy.

All the poems are delivered in both English and Yiddish, sometimes antiphonally, sometimes chorally, sometimes as dialogue and sometimes solo. Greenberg's music, ranging from the surreal introduction to klezmer tunes, a Gypsy air and jazz, is an important component, as is Stephen Pelton's movement and Matthew Antaky's lighting design.

Director Helen Stoltzfus, who, with her colleagues, put it all together, deserves a special bow. This is a remarkable piece of theater, one that should remain in repertoire and be called forth for an encore for many seasons to come.

And, evidently A Traveling Jewish Theatre, firmly ensconced in the Theatre Artaud complex on Florida and Mariposa in San Francisco and traveling no more, is anticipating many more seasons. A spiffy renovation has provided a new off-the-street entrance (no longer will patrons have to wander through the bowels of the building to enter the performance space), more convenient restroom facilities and an actual lobby in which to hang out at intermission.

Hang out there long enough and you may overhear some Yiddish being spoken. You may even understand it better than you did going in. "Language is the only homeland," is a line from one of the poems, and there may be a lot of truth to that.

"Diamonds in the Dark" brought me to a place I had never really been -- and actually made me homesick for it.

"Diamonds in the Dark" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays through January 10 at A Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida Street, San Francisco. Tickets: $20, with subscriber, student and senior discounts. Information: (415) 399-1809.

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