The Essence Tickets

Mazel tov! After a decade's worth of successful runs in the U.S. and abroad, the Jewish comedy The Essence is making its first Off-Broadway bow at WP Theater. The Essence tickets will be available soon.

The Essence is a comedic romp through Yiddish culture, language, and theatre history designed for audiences with no prior knowledge or investment in it. It employs a pastiche of songs, sketches, and scenes in Yiddish — with English subtitles, of course — coupled with information about the language itself. It's no self-important history lesson, however; its creators describe it as "irreverent" and "nostalgia-free." It has been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival and in various productions across the northeastern U.S. and in London.

Tickets for The Essence off Broadway will be on New York Theatre Guide soon.

According to its creators, The Essence is “an introduction to Yiddish language and culture designed for people who don’t give a rat’s rectum about Yiddish language and culture”. “Guaranteed nostalgia-free,” this irreverent journey through Yiddish theater’s legacy has established its success by bringing in audiences of all ages who have had no prior exposure to the language. The Essence introduces them to the most expressive language in the world via scenes, sketches, and songs in Yiddish (accompanied by English supertitles) along with “oddball detours” about the language itself, all “in 83 New York minutes.”

Director: Allen Lewis Rickman
Cast list: Allen Lewis Rickman, Yelena Shmulenson, Steve Sterner
Other info: Musical direction by Steve Sterner