My hubby and I attended opening night of “Bad Jews” at the Segal Centre last night – It was hysterical! Our laughter only paused for a few brief moments, usually due to some serious moment amid the hysterical rants, dialogues and banter that make up the show.
My husband kept repeating, until this morning, how much he enjoyed the night.
I’ll admit that as sometimes happens, we sat down and had no clue of what the show was about. On the surface, it is a show about family members (siblings, cousin plus one girlfriend) bunking together after the funeral of their beloved grandfather. The interaction is so on point, so believable, so identifiable-with, that it makes everything that much funnier.
On that point, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this play. For the most part, it could be about any crazy family that includes judgemental, resentful and holier-than-thou relatives. That said, there is definitely an underlying Jewish context that makes it incredibly identifiable for those of us with ‘crazy Jewish families’.
As for the cast, what can I say? There are only four cast members and each is spectacular. Sarah Segal-Lazar as Daphna is as self-righteous as they come and sets the stage with her incredible energy from the very first minute of the show. I was under the impression that she would (and could) carry the entire show solo with that ‘gusto’. That was before I was blown away when Liam, played by Jamie Elman of Yid Life Crisis, seized our attention , keeping the audience in stitches and somewhat shocked, all at the same time, with possibly the greatest onstage rant of all-time. Ellen Denny is exceptional as Melody. She is funny, on point and her expressions are perfection. Jonah, played by Jake Goldsbie, is the least verbal of the bunch, and yet his body language speaks volumes. My husband and I discussed how much he contributed, just with body language and limited words.
How can I say this? You know that someone is a phenomenal actor when you feel like you are watching real-life in action, and not an actor in a play. This statement is true of all four cast members.
What else can I tell you?
The banter is QUICK. Really quick. Easy to follow for the Millennials and Gen X’ers among us, possibly ok for the Baby Boomers in the crowd- but you have to know yourself: If you have the attention span for shows with quick banter and long rants, then you’ll likely love it. If you find these things tend to ‘give you a headache’, then you may not enjoy the show as much as we did. Of course, if you like shows with an underlying Jewish or ‘crazy family’ theme…the latter may outweigh the former.
One more warning: There is LANGUAGE…HEAVY DUTY, COARSE, LANGUAGE. This show is NOT for the kids and if you are offended easily by coarse language, then this show is not for you.
For everybody else- Reserve your tickets now. You won’t regret it.
You can click here to buy tickets on the Segal Centre website.
Expect to laugh. A lot.
Enjoy the show!
Tanya
