Pamela Weiler Grayson's New Play OBSERVANT Will Headline Spark Theatre Festival NYC

Faith, family, and facing the future collide in Pamela Weiler Grayson's timely new play OBSERVANT. The limited engagement runs September 12 - 28 at The Chain Theatre in midtown Manhattan and will headline Emerging Artists Theatre's Bi-annual Spark Theatre Festival NYC.

 

Award-winning playwright Grayson's plays and musicals have been produced in New York and nationwide. Her musical Urban Momfare (composer/lyricist/co-book writer) won a Best Musical award at FringeNYC, and was a Critics Pick in Time Out NY. The New York Premiere of OBSERVANT is directed by Shellen Lubin who has worked extensively in New York and recently directed When Zaydeh Danced On Eldridge Street at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The majority of the cast and creative team are female identifying artists. After attending a reading, Tony Award-winning producer Corey Brunish called the play “masterful”.

 

OBSERVANT is a proud recipient of a 2024 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and was also a Semi-Finalist in the Jewish Plays Project's 12th National Jewish Playwriting Competition. The play previously had a First Mondays reading at Naked Angels in December, 2022, and a staged reading at Emerging Artists Theatre's Fall Spark Theatre Festival in November, 2023.

 

Emerging Artists Theatre's Artistic Director Paul Adams shared his thoughts on the production, “When I saw the reading of Pam's play OBSERVANT, I thought it was the best play she has written since I have known her. You see the world of a family, where religion has a different meaning to each member, and through an incident that rocks the family, everyone's faith is challenged. It's a timely and unique play, and I'm looking forward to presenting it to a wider audience”.

 

In OBSERVANT, three generations of women confront their relationships to their Jewish identities—and to each other. Comedy and tragedy entwine, like a braided challah, when a mass shooting in their community tests the bonds of faith and family. 

 

One of the themes that runs throughout the play is how to come to terms with and try to improve a violent and chaotic world, when we can't even seem to get along with our own families or communities, or reconcile our own internal conflicts. The Jewish custom of “Tikkun Olam,” which translates into “repair the world” or “mend the world,” reflects this deeply-held desire to make the world a better place, even while we struggle with hatred and extreme tribalism. A very timely theme in our current global and national climate. 

 

The cast features Yair Ben-Dor (Prayer for the French Republic/MTC), Arielle Flax (The Shidduch Crisis/Independent Film), Rebecca Hoodwin (Fiddler on the Roof/National Tour with Harvey Fierstein), Arielle Beth Klein (Drama Desk-nominated Death of a Salesman/New Yiddish Rep), Melissa Wolff (Harsh and Exciting/Hunger & Thirst Theatre Company), and Ramsey Zeitouneh (American Horror Story/FX).

 

The creative and production team includes scenic design by Colleen Shea, lighting design by David Castaneda (Irena's Vow/Broadway), sound design by Grady Gund, costume coordinator Sophia Dorio, production stage management by Zija Brubaker Lubin-West, stage management/assistant director Aksel Tang. Produced by Red Lyric Productions in Association with Adam Weinstock and Emerging Artists Theatre.

 

OBSERVANT runs September 12 – 28. Performances are Thursday, September 12 at 7pm, Saturday, September 14 at 7pm, Monday, September, 16 at 7pm, Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm, Thursday, September 19 at 7pm, Sunday, September 22 at 2pm, Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm, Thursday, September 26 at 7pm, and Saturday, September 28 at 7pm. Running time: 1:40. 

 

Tickets are $40 for general admission, ($45 at door) and are available at www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/1320824. The Chain Theatre is located at 312 W 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10018.

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