Jewish Women's Theatre's SEX, ADDICTION & LOVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY to Open at The Braid

What the heck is love anyway? Whatever you think it is, think again. And understand that your definition of this elemental mystery just might change after seeing Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century, the new salon show from Jewish Women's Theatre (JWT) opening at The Braid in Santa Monica on March 14 and traveling across LA until March 24, with a special stop at the dnj Gallery to view how two Jewish women photographers capture love's magic.

Ah love! JWT performers, through words, poetry and music, will bring many of its humorous and thought-provoking complexities to life in this new production. Audiences will share some of love's greatest hits: that first crush that one never quite gets over; the physical and mental sexual awakening of a high school freshman; the proper number of times one can climax in a single evening; or maybe it's just holding hands? Can it be captured in sculpture? Is it witnessing the birth of your child or realizing that love dwells in every child?

"And what's up with love in the 21st Century?" asks JWT's artistic director Ronda Spinak. "Does it reside in Tindr or Grindr? Does it have any boundaries? Does technology change its traditional norms? How does love change the lover? Members of our audience will be a bit titillated, a bit shocked, and maybe a bit moved by our new show."

Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century and a complimentary photography exhibit curated by the dnj Gallery of Santa Monica will open at The Braid, JWT's art and performance space, on Saturday, March 14. There will be an art talk with the curator and gallery owner, Pamela Schoenberg on opening night at 6:30pm, prior to the performance. The salon show will then travel throughout the Southland for two weeks, with stops in the San Fernando Valley, the Westside, and the South Bay. Tickets are $45 ($50 at the door) and include free parking and a sumptuous dessert buffet. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org.

All the stories in Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century were selected from hundreds of submissions from both new and established authors. They include JWT favorite Joshua Reuben Silverstein, who wrote for and starred in last year's JWT production of True Colors; David Masello, a frequent commentator on arts and culture and currently the executive editor of Milieu; JWT favorite, 96-year old author Libby Schwartz; and writers Farnaz Solomon, Arla Sorkin, Robin Russin, Eve Lederman, and Molly M. Murray.

Plus, for the first time ever, on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and 17, the performance will take place at the dnj Gallery, where the audience can view a love-themed exhibit featuring the work of award-winning photographers Ellen Cantor and Sarah Hadley. In addition to the art talk on opening night, there will be art talks with the artists at the dnj Gallery and at The Braid on March 23 and 24.

"The audience at The Braid, with the visitors to dnj Gallery, will be in for a treat. I am very excited to be collaborating with Jewish Woman's Theater - I have selected artists whose artwork is creative, detailed, as well as conceptually produced to fit along with the theme of the production. Ellen Cantor begins with photographs that illustrate the past - but she also focuses our attention on universal human emotions. Sarah Hadley exhibits images that depict intimate female joys, sorrows, dreams and desires," says curator and dnj Gallery owner Schoenberg.

Cantor's work, DICHOTOMY, is focused on light, which she calls "an ever-present element in California artwork -from plein aire painting to the light and space movement of the 1960's." She explains how this movement stripped elements down to their basic components with a unique California spin that focuses on the interaction of light and space. She notes that the work that inspired her "was no longer about the object itself, but about perception."

DICHOTOMY looks past the reality of a flower and "searches for distinct gradations and hints of colors and textures that allows a vision beyond the boundaries of nature. By placing tulips with light bulbs, the viewer is offered an opportunity to rethink perception."

Canter was born in Chicago and studied at The University of Illinois, UCLA, and at workshops in Santa Fe and Maine. She has had several solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and has frequently acted as a juror and an online photography exhibitor.

Hadley explains that her gallery show, Story Lines "explores the female interior landscape." Born out of her love of European black and while film of the 60's and its strong female protagonists, she "creates images using unrelated photographs to create unique and surreal narratives centered on female identity and memory."

Hadley was born in Boston and studied art history and photography at Georgetown University and the Corcoran College of art in Washington, D.C. She worked in Chicago, at the Peggy Guggenheim collection in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and at the Biennale in Venice, Italy before moving to Los Angeles to photograph the Time Out Los Angeles Guidebook. She has had scores of solo exhibitions and has taken part in many national and international exhibitions. She is currently the Marketing Director of the Los Angeles Center of Photography, a frequent contributor to magazines and a juror/reviewer of exhibition portfolios. Her work is displayed in three books of her photography.

left to right: Dichtomy by Ellen Cantor; Crossing Paris, Story Lines series by Sarah Hadley

Jewish Women's Theatre has been voted one of the "Best Live Theatres on the Westside" three years in a row by The Argonaut, stages and displays traditional and contemporary works and educational programming that provide a forum for the development, performance and showcasing of Jewish artistic talent. Now in its 12 season, JWT's salon theatre of original dramatic shows, each written to a specific theme, displays the diverse and eclectic community of writers, artists and creators who celebrate Jewish life, one story at a time. Learn more about JWT at: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org. After your purchase, you will receive an email confirmation from JWT's box office. The address and directions will be found on our PDF print-at-home ticket.

To post a comment, you must register and login.