Casts Set for 13th Annual Jewish Playwriting Contest National Finals

The Jewish Plays Project (David Winitsky, Artistic Director) is thrilled to announce that the final event in the 13th Annual Jewish Playwriting Contest - the National Finals LIVE! - will be held on Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 pm at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Tickets can be reserved online.

The Top 3 Finalists in the Contest are Noga Flaishon (Israel/London), Dan Kitrosser (Philadelphia), and Deborah Zoe Laufer (Mt. Kisco, NY). The winning play will be presented in the JPP's signature Reading+ Workshop for industry and public audiences on August 15, 2024 at the Berkshire Theatre Group in Pittsfield, MA as part of the JPP's Festival of New Jewish Plays.

The event is produced by JPP Artistic Producer Will Steinberger and directed by Illana Stein. The cast includes Helen Hayes Winner Naomi Jacobson, "Gilmore Girls" regular Dave Shalansky, and returning JPP actors Rachel Botchan, Ben Faigus, Rachel Kaplan, Kate Levy, Sophie Schulman and Max Wolkowitz.

"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. "The writers on these lists have forged plays that present a complex, joyous, and critical look at the Jewish conversation, and we are thrilled to present them to the theatrical community."

Playwright Alexa Derman, winner of the 12th Annual Jewish Playwriting Contest in 2023, added, "Developing my work with the JPP was such a formative experience - collaborations with incredible artists, great conversations with other Jewish theater makers, and the thrill of seeing my community encounter my work with enthusiasm and eagerness."

The Top 3 plays were chosen through the combined efforts of over 800 audience members in 9 cities in the U.S. and Israel, including Silicon Valley, Boston, Houston, Charlotte, Chicago, Fairfax, Hartford, Tel Aviv and New York City. This unique process provides one-of-kind feedback to playwrights and invaluable audience response to prospective producers.

This one-of-a-kind event is a combination of a TED Talk, a play reading and American Idol. Each of the three plays is introduced by Mr. Winitsky and by a video from each playwright, then 20-minute excerpts are read. The audience then votes on a winner.

The National Top 3 are:

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...

MEMORIAM by Noga Flaishon (London, United Kingdom)

Memoriam Inc. buys and sells memories, digitizing them for mass-viewership. Now they are after the memories of the last holocaust survivor.

WHY THIS NIGHT? A Typical Queer, Shtetl, Seder, Murder Mystery by Daniel Kitrosser (Philadelphia, PA)

A typical 19th century queer shtetl seder murder mystery. It's like if Agatha Christie, John Waters, and Tevye the Milkman had an orgy, but with m-OY-der!

The other Finalists are Jake Brasch (Denver/Julliard), Abigail Henkin (Chicago/LA), Elise Wein (NYC). The Finalists for the National Jewish Playwriting Contest were selected from over 320 submissions from 30 states and 5 countries.

Find full information on all of the plays - including writer or agent contact information - at the JPP's website: www.jewishplaysproject.org. 

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