Bar Mitzvah Boy
Reviewed by Stephen Fife
West Coast Jewish Theatre
Through May 12
In his opening curtain speech for Bar Mitzvah Boy at the Miles Playhouse in Santa Monica, director Howard Teichman — who is also artistic director of the West Coast Jewish Theatre — told the audience that he has “scoured the country and beyond, looking for the next Neil Simon, the next Arthur Miller, the next great Jewish playwright.” The fact that his “search” has led him to Mark Leiren-Young’s Bar Mitzvah Boy is somewhat mystifying.
Full-disclosure: I was on the Board of Directors of the West Coast Jewish Theatre for seven years, and I was actively involved in getting this theater off the ground as a producing organization. I enjoyed helping in any way I could. I left the Board in 2012 under less than ideal circumstances, so attending this production was something of a homecoming. Past issues aside, I believe in this theater’s mission.
The West Coast Jewish Theatre got off to a flying start under the leadership of Herb Isaacs with its first production of Jim Brochu’s Zero Hour — a one-man play (starring Brochu) about the actor Zero Mostel which won the 2006 Ovation Award for Best Play. The second production was Lessons by Wendy Graf, to which Bar Mitzvah Boy bears a remarkable resemblance – so much so that it made me somewhat uncomfortable.
Both plays depict a man over 60 who feels a need for a bar mitzvah. Both plays depict his relationship with a troubled female rabbi, who tutors him in Hebrew while he helps her deal with a mortal crisis involving her daughter. In both plays, he has to overcome the rabbi’s firm resistance to taking on an older man as a student. In both plays, the female rabbi rails against God. And both plays mix comedy with serious issues to get that trademark funny/sad effect that characterizes so much Jewish literature and drama (as well as Norman Lear sitcoms and, by extension, contemporary TV comedies in general).
Beyond these many similarities, Lessons is a better and more substantial play than Bar Mitzvah Boy. Though not without flaws, Graf’s play goes deeply into character and into questions about God’s plan, whereas Leiren-Young’s play contents itself with surface issues, stating and re-stating (and re-re-stating) the same points, which don’t become more convincing when we hear them for the fourth or fifth time.
The play opens with what appears to be a 12-year-old girl working out to recorded dance music. Except she’s not a girl, she’s a 40 year old woman. Pamela Heffler, who plays the role of Rabbi Michael Levitz-Sharon, is under five feet tall. I’m not giving anything away to reveal that her daughter has cancer and her marriage is troubled. These facts are established early on.
The older man who seeks her help is Joey Brant (R. Emmett Lee), and his reasons for wanting a bar mitzvah now and needing Rabbi Michael to be his tutor are so flimsy that it does a disservice to the word “contrived.” More appropriate to a sketch than a full-length play, they could politely be termed a “playwright’s conceit.”
The strength of both actors lies in being likable and highly relatable, and both have some effective moments of charm. Lee is the more skillful performer, and he is able to bring some conviction and credibility to the role of a divorce attorney — something that comes in handy when Rabbi Michael’s marriage reaches the breaking point. Ms. Heffler shines in the lighter moments, but she has trouble expressing deeper emotions when these are required.
Director Teichman is savvy in knowing how to appeal to the traditional sentiments of his target audience/subscriber base of older Jews, and many in the audience seemed entertained. The problem, of course, is that this audience is diminishing, and the next generation may not respond as obligingly to the ingratiating tone of Teichman’s productions.
It’s time for the company to be looking forward, rather than always in the rear-view mirror. It still isn’t too late.
Miles Memorial Playhouse, 1130 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through May 12. (323) 821-2449 or www.wcjt.org. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
