Ella Stiller, Josh Malina, and Mimi Lieber Will Lead Reading of THE LAST YIDDISH SPEAKER By Deborah Zoe Laufer

Recent Julliard graduate Ella Stiller and Broadway and television star Joshua Malina (Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt, The West Wing, Sports Night, Scandal, Big Bang Theory) will headline the opening of the Festival of New Jewish Plays, a collaboration between the Jewish Plays Project (David Winitsky, Artistic Director) and Berkshire Theatre Group (Kate Maguire, Artistic Director).

They will be joined by Mimi Lieber (Indecent) as the titular character and up-and-coming Thom Niemann (FBI: Most Wanted, Blue Bloods) in THE LAST YIDDISH SPEAKER by Deborah Zoe Laufer. The reading was cast by JPP resident Casting Director Judy Bowman and will be presented at the historic Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, MA on Thursday, August 15 at 7 pm. Tickets (and Festival passes) can be purchased on the Berkshire Theatre Group website: https://www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.

THE LAST YIDDISH SPEAKER by Deborah Zoe Laufer (Mount Kisco, NY)
In a post-insurrection, Christian America, an ancient Yiddish-speaking woman is deposited on Hannah and Paul's doorstep. Should they hide her, or save themselves?

The play, a magical-realist dystopia set in a fictional future, was selected as the winner of the 13th National Jewish Playwriting Contest by over 800 audience members spread across the Silicon Valley, Boston, Houston, Chicago, Fairfax, Hartford, Tel Aviv, and New York City from over 320 submissions from 30 states and 5 countries.

The reading will be directed by Mr. Winitsky and will be presented in the JPP's signature Reading+ format for the consideration of industry and pubic audiences. THE LAST YIDDISH SPEAKER was featured in American Theater prior to it's World Premiere production at Philadelphia's Interact Theatre ("passionate and timely" - The Forward), and has productions scheduled at Boca Raton's Theatre Lab and Oregon Contemporary Theater.

"Writing about an America where the insurrection was successful, the country was White Christian Nationalist, and women had lost their freedom seemed like an exercise in dystopian fiction two years ago. Now my own play frightens me," said Ms. Laufer. "Having the support and community that the JPP offered this past year has been a lifeline. It's meant so much to be amongst this cohort of playwrights and, with the contest, to have my play read across the country, putting me in conversation with a network of new friends. I'm very honored to have won, and deeply grateful, as the JPP continues to support me in finding the best future for my play."

The Festival and this featured reading are supported by Howard Gilman, The Dr. David Milch Foundation, Gary Zimmerman, Stephanie and Andrew Sklover, and Glenda Turner and Michael Haplern.

"This is our 13th season - our B'nai Mitzvah year - and the time has never been more important to celebrate vibrant Jewish stories," said Mr. Winitsky. "Deb's play has resonated with audiences - Jewish and not - because it is theatrically vibrant, beautifully heartfelt, and terrifyingly relevant to the anxiety and precariousness of the Jewish community right now."

The Festival of New Jewish Plays also includes Tony-Winner Ari'el Stachel's dynamic solo show Out of Character, a youth adaptation of the Caldecot winning book The Library Lion directed by Israeli director Ran Bechor, and an evening of 10-minute plays centered on healing.

Find full information on the entire Festival at the Berkshire Theatre Group's website, https://www.berkshiretheatregroup.org/passes/. Interested producers, agents, and literary managers can email plays@jewishplaysproject.org.

About the Cast

Joshua Malina recently starred on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's Tony Award winning play LEOPOLDSTADT. He will make his London stage debut this fall in Nathan Englander's WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK, directed by Patrick Marber. Josh made his professional acting debut in the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin's A FEW GOOD MEN. He starred as Jeremy Goodwin in Sorkin's critically acclaimed television series SPORTS NIGHT. Later, Josh co-starred as Will Bailey in Sorkin's Emmy-winning THE WEST WING. For seven seasons, Josh co-starred as David Rosen on ABC's hit show SCANDAL. His film credits include the comedy A VIEW FROM THE TOP , with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mike Meyers, IN THE LINE OF FIRE,  with Clint Eastwood, and BULWORTH,  with Warren Beatty and Halle Berry.

Ella Stiller is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School ('24). A proud Jewish New Yorker with a passion for telling young women's stories, Stiller is thrilled to be a part of this important and timely piece. Select credits include THEATER: SLUT THE PLAY (The Greene Space) IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Juilliard), AS YOU LIKE IT (Juilliard). READINGS: OFF-WHITE (NYTW), ROSE OF ST. THERESE (St. Ann's). FILM/TV: Netflix's HUBIE HALLOWEEN, Showtime's ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA.

Mimi Lieber Broadway: Indecent; also, Indecent at Vineyard Theater, NY, Yale Rep, La Jolla Playhouse; other Broadway: Act One (Lincoln Center Theater), Brooklyn Boy, I'm Not Rappaport (revival). Off-Broadway: Distracted (Roundabout). Regional: Two Things You Don't Talk About at Dinner (Denver Center Theatre); Persephone, The Sisters Rosensweig (Huntington Theatre); We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! (Long Wharf); Leon & Lena (and Lenz) (Guthrie Theater); Figaro Gets a Divorce (La Jolla Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing, Othello (L.A. Shakespeare Festival). Select TV: "The Good Fight," "The Sopranos," "Law & Order (recurring)" "Medium," "Friends," "The Practice," "Seinfeld," "ER," "X-Files," "NYPD Blue," "Judging Amy (recurring)," "Early Edition (recurring)," "L.A. Law," 50 or so other episodes of television.

Thom Niemann is a graduate of Fordham University and the Terry Knickerbocker Studio and is thrilled to be performing back on stage after mostly working in film since 2019. His recent credits include FBI: Most Wanted and Chiwetel Ejiofor's Rob Peace. He is excited to delve into this powerful and poignant play as we continue to try to find our way forward in this country.