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| Three generations celebrate Passover in 2019. (Kevin Berne photo) |
What does it mean to be Jewish and how have Jews
managed to survive and maintain their traditions?
In the 2022 “In Every Generation,” presented by
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, playwright Ali Viterbi explores these questions
and others over the years of a multi-generational family’s Passover dinners.
Before the show opens, significant events in Jewish
history, going back to 1416 BCE, are displayed as supertitles on the proscenium.
It then starts in 2019 in Los Angeles as Valeria
Levi (Cindy Goldfield) hosts a Seder in her modern apartment for her parents,
Paola (Luisa Sermol) and Davide Levi
(Michael Champlin), and daughters, Yael Levi-Katz (Olivia Nicole Hoffman) and
Devorah Levi-Katz (Sarah Lo).
Paola and Davide, who uses a wheelchair because of
ALS, are Italian immigrants. Devorah is Chinese and adopted. Family dynamics
are evident as rituals are observed and traditional foods eaten.
Action then goes back to 1954, when Paola and Davide
are Italian newlyweds who have escaped the Holocaust and have moved to a modest
apartment in Los Angeles.
It then fast-forwards to 2050. Devorah, now a gay
rabbi, and Yael, a doctor, are celebrating with their mother, Valeria.
Like her father in the first scene, she uses a
wheelchair and can’t speak, but modern technology enables her to project her
thoughts onto a tablet. Therefore, when her daughters squabble, she implores
them to stop.
By this time, anti-Semitic events throughout the
country have left the family super-cautious.
The setting segues to the Exodus in the Sinai Desert
in 1416 BCE. The five family members express hopes of “next year in Jerusalem”
after the Jews’ ordeal in Egypt.
Director Michael Barakiva has assembled an
outstanding ensemble cast with each of the five actors creating believable
characters at different ages.
Nina Ball’s set, with lighting by Kurt Landisman,
defines changing times and circumstances.
Costumes are by Suzanne Chesney with sound by
Sharath Patel.
Running about two hours with an intermission, this
interesting, informative play will continue through Feb. 12 at the Mountain
View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View.
For tickets and information, call (877) 662-8978 or
visit www.theatreworks.org.
