Join us for a season of joy and hope, triumph and resilience.
Our plays this season include award-winning dramas, uproarious comedies, and deep looks into the human condition and the Jewish experience.
Don’t miss out on the last 3 plays of the season!
Questions? Call us at 202-777-3210.
See you at the theater!
Two Jews Walk Into a War…
By Seth Rozin
Directed by Adam Immerwahr
January 11 – February 5, 2023
A CONTEMPORARY, SIDE-SPLITTING VAUDEVILLE
Ishaq and Zeblyan are the last remaining Jews in Afghanistan. They share the only remaining synagogue that has not been destroyed by the Taliban. They share a vital mission to repopulate the Jewish community in Kabul. And they hate each other. Can this cantankerous couple commit to one incredible act of faith to keep their community alive without killing one another first? Part The Odd Couple and part Waiting for Godot, Two Jews Walk Into a War… is a ripped-from-the-headlines, modern day vaudeville full of schtick, sorrow, and survival.
Gloria: A Life
By Emily Mann
Directed by Holly Twyford
March 8 – April 2, 2023
HISTORY. HER STORY. OUR STORY.
Gloria: A Life is more than a play—it’s a celebration of human connection. Five decades after Gloria Steinem began raising her voice and championing the voices of others, her call for equality is as urgent as ever. In this exploration of the iconic feminist’s extraordinary legacy and the women who inspired her (including Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Flo Kennedy, Coretta Scott King, and Wilma Mankiller), the first act tells her story, and the second invites the audience to share their own. Gloria Steinem’s stirring and uplifting narrative is a necessary reminder of the importance of speaking up and speaking out. Directed by Holly Twyford (Becoming Dr. Ruth), Gloria: A Life honors one of the most inspiring women of our time.
One Jewish Boy
By Stephen Laughton
Directed by Johanna Gruenhut
June 7 – July 2, 2023
THE US PREMIERE OF THE JEWISH PLAY THAT STUNNED THE UK
In this bittersweet, sophisticated and quick-fire new British comedy about antisemitism, Jesse, a nice Jewish boy, falls in love with Alex, a nice mixed-race girl. The love between them is pure and absolute, but Jesse has never been able to shake off the vicious attack that changed him forever. Navigating any relationship is difficult enough, but what happens when you factor in politics and rising prejudice? This provocative play received a massive antisemitic response when the UK production opened in 2018; posters were defaced, and the writer received death threats. Don’t miss the US premiere of this urgent and unflinching comedy, which pits the impact of hatred against the power of love.
“Moving… shows how race, gender, class, culture, and, perhaps most importantly, fear, impact on the characters’ lives” –The Stage
“Does what good theatre should do – it begs questions and provokes thought which linger in the mind long after… provocative, urgent and powerful” –Attitude Magazine
AND WE HOPE YOU DIDN’T MISS THESE 2022-2023 PRODUCTIONS
Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story
By Hannah Moscovitch, Ben Caplan, and Christian Barry
Directed by Christian Barry
September 7–25, 2022
A HIT NEW KLEZMER MUSICAL
Sex, religion, and refugees—Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story has it all! A funny and edgy love story interwoven with a high-energy klezmer concert, this folk musical is inspired by the true tale of two Jewish Romanian refugees finding love on the shores of Canada in 1908. Featuring a spectacular performance by genre-bending Canadian sensation Ben Caplan, Old Stock has been wildly popular with audiences and critics alike across Canada, Great Britain, and in New York, and now makes its long-awaited DC debut.
“A hugely engaging experience” – The Guardian
Intimate Apparel
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Paige Hernandez
October 19 – November 13, 2022
AN EXQUISITE MODERN MASTERPIECE
The time is 1905, the place the Lower East Side. Sewing beautiful lingerie gives Esther, an African American seamstress, an intimate look at the love lives of her diverse clientele, but she yearns for a romance of her own. She finds herself in an epistolary courtship with a mysterious Caribbean man, though her heart secretly belongs to the Orthodox Jewish fabric merchant with whom she can never share a touch. Written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and MacArthur “Genius Grant” Awardee Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined), this moving portrait of love, resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit has become one of the most beloved plays of our time.
“One of the very best American plays of the past quarter-century” –The Wall Street Journal
PLUS A SPECIAL ADD-ON
(Tickets must be purchased separately; not available as part of a subscription)
The Pianist of Willesden Lane
Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder
December 6–18, 2022
A BRAVURA PERFORMANCE OF AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY
After a sold-out run at the Kennedy Center, Grammy®-nominated pianist Mona Golabek makes her triumphant return in one of the most powerful performances in Theater J’s history. Set in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg, The Pianist of Willesden Lane tells the true and inspiring story of Lisa Jura, a young Jewish pianist whose dream of making her concert debut is dashed by the onset of World War II. Despite devastating personal loss, Jura endures through her music and pursues her dreams. Performed by Jura’s real-life daughter, the virtuosic Mona Golabek, The Pianist of Willesden Lane combines enthralling story telling with breathtaking live performances of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and more.
Theater J’s 2022/23 Season is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Questions? Call our Ticket Office at 202-777-3210, Monday through Friday, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.