Chaidentity
Jul. 8th, 2010 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreI saw my first show of this year's Capital Fringe Festival tonight. I was a little apprehensive about Slash Coleman's Chaidentity because he had done a less than satisfying show on pretty much the same theme two years ago.
What I wrote at the time was "Things improved somewhat when he abandoned the costumes and shtick and talked about his conflicted feelings. His telling about his nephew's growing interest in Judaism was warm and could be developed into a real story." Fortunately, that is exactly the direction he took this new show in. It was a much more straightforward telling of his family's story and the two paths members of the family took after the Holocaust. His mother instilled a fear of his own Judaism in him, but he still felt compelled to explore his Jewish identity. This ranges from experiments in wearing a yarmulke (in rural Texas, where he imagines a woman sneezing is repeatedly saying, "a Jew, a Jew") to listening to his grandmother's nightmares about stormtroopers. It culminates in another generation (his nephew) being able to overcome the silence and bring things full circle.
I found the story satisfying and the performance warm. His obvious emotion and sincerity overcame a few minor glitches here and there. All in all, I'm glad I went.
What I wrote at the time was "Things improved somewhat when he abandoned the costumes and shtick and talked about his conflicted feelings. His telling about his nephew's growing interest in Judaism was warm and could be developed into a real story." Fortunately, that is exactly the direction he took this new show in. It was a much more straightforward telling of his family's story and the two paths members of the family took after the Holocaust. His mother instilled a fear of his own Judaism in him, but he still felt compelled to explore his Jewish identity. This ranges from experiments in wearing a yarmulke (in rural Texas, where he imagines a woman sneezing is repeatedly saying, "a Jew, a Jew") to listening to his grandmother's nightmares about stormtroopers. It culminates in another generation (his nephew) being able to overcome the silence and bring things full circle.
I found the story satisfying and the performance warm. His obvious emotion and sincerity overcame a few minor glitches here and there. All in all, I'm glad I went.
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review
Date: 2010-07-12 12:48 am (UTC)I was glad he gave me the straight story this time. I think he has a genuine voice and he's talking about important things in our community.
I wished he had included a Q&A at the end because for me the show brings up tons of questions about Jewish identity, the Holocaust, and what being a Jew is really all about in our community.
Re: review
Date: 2010-07-12 09:59 pm (UTC)For me, a lot of the interest is from discussions I've had with other children of Holocaust survivors. My father, while he was very involved in the local Jewish community and didn't exactly stay silent, didn't volunteer things, waiting for us to ask. Unfortunately, by the time he did ask, there wasn't enough time for us to learn everything we wanted to. (And he had forgotten a lot, too.)