Photo Credit: Glenn Perry Photography
Modern spins on two of the world’s most ancient religions take center stage this fall in a couple of New England premiere productions—which just so happen to open on the same day. Company One’s The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy serves up three 90-minute plays by Aditi Brennan Kapil: Brahman/i: A One Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show, a routine riffing on teen angst and gender transitioning; The Chronicles of Kaliki, a comic book-style thriller set amid high school mean girls; and Shiv, a post-colonial family drama and love story peppered with magical realism. Viewable in any order, the three plays draw inspiration from the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, but Shiv director Summer Williams says the central themes are universal. “I think there is something about it that resonates with everyone,” she says. “There’s a really interesting tension between the past and the present, and where those two intersect.” The same could be said about SpeakEasy Stage Company’s Bad Jews, a play by Joshua Harmon about two cousins—one loudly and proudly devout, the other decidedly secular, with a shiksa girlfriend—who are each vying for an heirloom their late grandfather carried with him during the Holocaust. Both productions use humor to explore serious subjects. “Laughter can be many things: covering up our discomforts, rejecting someone for their stupidity or accepting them because we see our faults in them,” saysBad Jews director Rebecca Bradshaw. “The hard realities and truths of this piece will land in moments of silence.”
The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy Oct. 24-Nov. 22 at the BCA’s Black Box Theatre,companyone.org
Bad Jews Oct. 24-Nov. 29 at the BCA’s Roberts Studio Theatre, speakeasystage.com
Daring Duos
The season’s most exciting arts happenings meet their matches.
By Improper Staff Sept. 12, 2014
Acts of Faith
Photo Credit: Glenn Perry Photography
Modern spins on two of the world’s most ancient religions take center stage this fall in a couple of New England premiere productions—which just so happen to open on the same day. Company One’s The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy serves up three 90-minute plays by Aditi Brennan Kapil: Brahman/i: A One Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show, a routine riffing on teen angst and gender transitioning; The Chronicles of Kaliki, a comic book-style thriller set amid high school mean girls; and Shiv, a post-colonial family drama and love story peppered with magical realism. Viewable in any order, the three plays draw inspiration from the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, but Shiv director Summer Williams says the central themes are universal. “I think there is something about it that resonates with everyone,” she says. “There’s a really interesting tension between the past and the present, and where those two intersect.” The same could be said about SpeakEasy Stage Company’s Bad Jews, a play by Joshua Harmon about two cousins—one loudly and proudly devout, the other decidedly secular, with a shiksa girlfriend—who are each vying for an heirloom their late grandfather carried with him during the Holocaust. Both productions use humor to explore serious subjects. “Laughter can be many things: covering up our discomforts, rejecting someone for their stupidity or accepting them because we see our faults in them,” saysBad Jews director Rebecca Bradshaw. “The hard realities and truths of this piece will land in moments of silence.”
The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy Oct. 24-Nov. 22 at the BCA’s Black Box Theatre,companyone.org
Bad Jews Oct. 24-Nov. 29 at the BCA’s Roberts Studio Theatre, speakeasystage.com
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