Tree of Life at The Lewis and Shirley White Theatre

In this new play by Victor Wishna, sixty-something widower Ken clings to his proud but fading Jewish congregation in the tiny town of Wiconee, Iowa; Colombian grad student Marianela, visiting to research her dissertation, represents a burgeoning community of Latin Americans who are rediscovering their Jewish roots. As Mari’s true intentions are revealed, the synagogue’s antique Torah scroll—the rolled parchment containing the handwritten five books of Moses, referred to in Jewish tradition as an etz chayim, “tree of life”—becomes a critical character in the bittersweet (and occasionally comic) drama that unfolds.