theatrical presentations
in development
Dracula (Annotated)
premiering in Los Angeles September 2025
In our next project, we investigate Bram Stoker’s Dracula, weaving together our unique blend of historical investigation and heightened theatricality to create a new work from the core of the novel. This is the second in a series of “Annotated” productions in which we explode and explore classic or well-known and culturally influential works to disrupt more familiar or comfortable ways of engaging with them.
currently touring
The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or
In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad
premiered in Los Angeles May 12, 2023
What can a play from sixteenth century England tell us about how antisemitism and other prejudicial beliefs operate in our world today? Investigating William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, we weave in our unique blend of deep historical investigation and heightened theatricality to create a new work from the core of the classic play which explores issues of identity, marginalization, assimilation, and power throughout history and in our modern world.
hell prepared: a ritual exorcism inspired by kabbalistic principles, performed within a dominant cultural context
premiered July 26, 2019
Enter the gates of the Venice Ghetto of the 17th century and go on a journey of dominance, separation, and survival that spirals down through the pits of Gehenna. In a landscape of choreographed movement, poetic text, shadow puppetry, and choral scoring, hell prepared follows a spiritual leader as he endeavors to exorcise the dominant culture and its influence on his world.
lost tribes
premiered February 24, 2018
Inspired by the stories of the lost tribes of Israel, theatre dybbuk presents a full-length theatrical work, rich in movement, original music, and lyrical language that relates ancient mythological and tribal narratives to contemporary questions of integration, appropriation, and belonging.
exagoge
premiered June 18, 2016
exagoge, by Ezekiel the Poet, is the first recorded Jewish play, written during the 2nd Century B.C.E. It serves as a jumping off point for a piece that is both a play and a theatrical ritual.
illuminated lectures, performance art events, and happenings
Radio, Propaganda, and The War of the Worlds:
An Illuminated Lecture
September 1, 2024
Professor Paul Lerner discusses Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" vis-à-vis analysis from Austrian Jewish media researcher (and later advertising exec) Herta Herzog, who studied audience reactions to the broadcast and argued that the tensions of the time – the rise of fascist movements, the growing likelihood of war – agitated listeners and predisposed them to believe the fabricated threat from the skies, despite Welles’ assurances that the broadcast was a hoax.
This illuminated lecture was presented at the Skirball Cultural Center as part of the city-wide festival Reflections on Art and Democracy.
Hymn of the Majestic - Jewish Mysticism in Islamic Persia: An Illuminated Lecture
July 11, 2024; also available on The Dybbukast
How did Jews in Persia participate in Sufism before and after the appearance of Kabbalah? Is Sufism a fundamentally Islamic form of mysticism? And what Sufi influences are still tangible in the practices of Persian Jews today? In this illuminated lecture, Alan Niku seeks to answer these questions while actors from theatre dybbuk read poetry that brings the topics discussed vividly to life. Originally presented at The Philosophical Research Society, live music was featured as part of the event.
The Marvelous Puppet Show: An Illuminated Lecture
premiered April 20, 2024; reprised at LA Escena Festival September 15, 2024; also available on The Dybbukast
In The Marvelous Puppet Show, the author of Don Quixote gives us a story of charlatans who con an audience of nervous villagers. As it dissects the foibles of belief and belonging, Cervantes' interlude play poses uncomfortable questions for the here and now. This event combined scholarship about the play presented by Dr. Barbara Fuchs with performances by actors from theatre dybbuk. It was originally presented in partnership with Diversifying the Classics at UCLA and First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.
The Bond
December 21, 2023
In The Bond, theatre dybbuk presented a ritual of meditative walking and memorial rock laying as a communal processing of loss at The Philosophical Research Society (PRS). The ritual took place throughout PRS' Death Cafe, a facilitated conversation about death in which attendees were invited to participate, and was followed by a singing experience. The memorial rock structure remained as an interactive installation following the event through the winter season.
Demons and Descents
premiered October 12, 2023 and reprised October 10, 2024
An evening of Jewish tales of the supernatural from Babylon to Eastern Europe read by actors from theatre dybbuk and accompanied by an improvised musical score. Throughout the evening, a visual artist – working alongside the actors and musician – created new paper cut works inspired by, and intersecting with, the stories and sounds being offered. Presented at The Philosophical Research Society.
currently touring
The Villainy You Teach
premiered March 2, 2023
The performance art piece The Villainy You Teach was created in the winter of 2023 as a companion piece to The Merchant of Venice (Annotated), or In Sooth I Know Not Why I Am So Sad. Villainy also explores The Merchant of Venice through the durational performance of a Shylock monologue repeated throughout a stylized reading of the play.
Between Two Worlds: Jewish Theatre Making in Renaissance Mantua with Erith Jaffe-Berg
November 15, 2022
In this unique combination of lecture and performed reading presented with the Philosophical Research Society, Professor Erith Jaffe-Berg spoke about her recent publication, Jewish Theatre Making in Mantua, 1520-1650. During the lecture, actors from theatre dybbuk brought selections from the theatrical works mentioned therein vividly to life.
Rise and Fall
Spring and Summer, 2022
A concert collaboration with the HEX vocal ensemble.
We selected monologues and scenes from the last 10 years of our theatrical works and invited artists from HEX to use them as inspiration for vocal and electronic musical compositions. In the resulting performance, readings of these selections by theatre dybbuk actors are entwined with music sung and manipulated by the musicians of HEX.
Rise and Fall was presented by East Side Jews at SIJCC on April 23 and 24, 2022 and at the N.E.O. Voice Festival on June 29, 2022.
Watch the Rise and Fall trailer here!
photos by Taso Papadakis from Rise and Fall
In Defense of Women
premiered May 20, 2021 at San Diego's JFEST; presented as a podcast on The Dybbukast on June 11, 2021; revised and reprised on October 24, 2024 for the UCI New Swan Shakespeare Center
Originally presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre as part of JFEST and formatted as a live version of our podcast, The Dybbukast, our first illuminated lecture combined scholarship and performed readings surrounding the 16th century Italian poem "In Defense of Women" by Jewish dramatist Leone De' Sommi Portaleone. The event (and festival) was presented online due to the ongoing pandemic.
Remembering for the Future: A Community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration
April 28, 2019
We're proud to have served as the event designer for Remembering for the Future: A Community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration – organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles with a wide variety of partners from throughout the city.
Performers Rachel Leah Cohen, Julie A. Lockhart, Rebecca Rasmussen, Jonathan C.K. Williams, and Jon Weinberg
Performers Jon Weinberg, Julie A. Lockhart, Jonathan CK Williams, and Rebecca Rasmussen
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti with performers Julie A. Lockhart and Adam Jacobsen
Performers Rachel Leah Cohen, Julie A. Lockhart, Rebecca Rasmussen, Jonathan C.K. Williams, and Jon Weinberg
photos from Remembering for the Future: A Community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration
assemble: modern spin | ancient celebration
October 4, 2015
Conceived by the Center for Jewish Culture and Leichtag Foundation and created by theatre dybbuk for a Sukkot harvest festival, assemble featured ritualized movement and physical theatre, as well as dance, music and more.
staged readings
God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch
April 7, 2019
A staged reading presented by the California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language and Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Bronx Express by Osip Dymov translated by Nahma Sandrow
February 26, 2017
A staged reading presented at UCLA by the California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language
A Dybbuk by Tony Kushner
February 8, 2015
A staged reading presented at UCLA by the California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language
A Dybbuk by Tony Kushner
December 15, 2013
A staged reading presented by the Santa Monica Public Library
A Man's Home by Aaron Henne
May 20, 2012
A staged reading presented by the Santa Monica Public Library
collaborations with sacred spaces
tefillah or prayer: a translation
premiered June 22, 2014
tefillah unpacks the vivid drama and moving humanity inherent in prayer services, by investigating their histories, legacies, and structures.
kippur
premiered August 31, 2013
Originally performed as a play that also served as a Selichot service, the seven days of sitting Shiva serve as a framework for this exploration of atonement and loss.
vessels
premiered April 19, 2013
A short work designed to illuminate the Passover holiday, vessels creates a ritualistic performance experience that focuses on events surrounding the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.