Photo by Carol Rosegg
Last season I had the privilege of experiencing something on Broadway for the very first time. Not only was it my inauguration to witnessing the glorious talents of Audra McDonald in person, but it was also my first time seeing a new show, which documented the making of a famous piece of theatre history. I'm of course referring to Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, which celebrated a landmark moment both in black history and Broadway history. Now, it's time for Sholom Asch's 1907 play God of Vengeance to take the hot seat and for audiences to discover (or re-discover) the historical journey the playwright and the troupe of actors underwent, risking everything to stage the most scandalous play of Yiddish Theatre that had ever been written.
Our #ShowOfTheWeek is the Tony-nominated masterpiece Indecent, which also marks playwright Paula Vogel's long-awaited Broadway debut. Co-created and directed by Rebecca Taichman, this new play with music is as haunting as it is beautiful. Over the course of 100 minutes we are informed, educated and entertained by a skilled and modest group of actors who take on multiple roles to tell the story of the birth of God of Vengeance as Asch's first play. Written by a Jew and accused of being deeply anti-Semitic, it was never going to be an easy road to get this work produced, especially due to the fact that the play positively promoted the love that dare not speak its name and its most infamous scene depicted two women kissing in the rain. However, God of Vengeance toured the globe and eventually landed on the Great White Way in 1922, resulting in its Broadway producer and cast being arrested for "obscenity." I will not spoil the fate of this Jewish troupe of actors here, but I will say that you will be deeply moved by the end of this play.
Taichman and Vogel have constructed a most decent and respectful tribute to this epic chapter in Jewish culture and Yiddish Theatre. Musicians and actor-musicians blend together on stage with sumptuous movement provided by David Dorfman and we are guided sparingly yet efficiently by Tal Yarden's projections in terms of the play's many settings and which language is currently being spoken (although, we obviously hear the dialogue in English, for the most part). The latter also offers a handful of poignantly theatrical moments, for example by projecting the American court's guilty sentence in full across the entire stage and the actors standing upon it. The power in its presentation lies squarely with the ensemble, yet Katrina Lenk and Adina Verson still provide the most memorable pictures, handling the lesbian angles - both on and off stage - with such delicate grace and beauty that it seems near impossible to leave the theatre without those lasting images at the forefront of your mind. Vogel also heart-wrenchingly juxtaposes the "enormously long line" of Jewish immigrants at Ellis Island with the same line of Jewish inmates at a concentration camp. The play is brimming with such moments of high emotional stakes that you can't help but feel spiritually invested in each character's arc.
Yes, God of Vengeance may well be remembered as the first play on Broadway to ever show two women kissing - something which (thank goodness) could be seen as common practice nowadays - but thanks to Indecent, we learn that its significance is so much more than that.
Click here for tickets to Indecent for performances through to September 10, 2017 at Broadway's Cort Theatre.
Katrina Lenk & Adina Verson in Indecent More Production PhotosOriginally published on