Irish Yiddishist Caraid O'Brien to Adapt Sholem Asch's RABBI DOCTOR SILVER

Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater and Solas Nua, Washington DC's leading multidisciplinary Irish arts organization, have announced a co-commission of Irish Yiddishist Caraid O'Brien. O'Brien will translate and adapt Sholem Asch's classic Yiddish play Rabbi Doctor Silver.

The co-commission is a unique cross-cultural collaboration, creating an opportunity to highlight the intersections of the Irish and Jewish experiences.

Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr states, "When I first read Caraid O'Brien's Yiddish translations, I was blown away by her superb theatrical ear and facility for transforming Yiddish work into relevant contemporary text. Just as Theater J's Yiddish Theater Lab has grown from readings to full productions, it was time to grow from commissioning adaptations to translations. I couldn't be prouder that O'Brien accepted our inaugural translation commission and am delighted to be partnering with our dear colleagues at Solas Nua, whose innovative and bold productions are among the shining stars of the DC theater universe."

"When Adam Immerwahr reached out to me about Solas Nua co-commissioning a piece with Caraid O'Brien, I immediately jumped at the opportunity," says Solas Nua Artistic Director Rex Daugherty. "Solas Nua's contemporary Irish arts mission is perfectly embodied in Caraid's work. Modern Irish artists are multicultural and ethnically diverse, interested in ideas and stories beyond what is commonly portrayed as Irish heritage. Caraid is an exceptionally gifted writer, whose dynamic talents draw on her background in Irish and Yiddish theatre traditions. Our world is more globally connected and interdependent than ever, and this co-commission between Theater J and Solas Nua reflects how culture and the importance of storytelling is shared across borders and identities."

Born in Galway, Ireland, Caraid O'Brien is a writer, performer, translator and director. Her translation from Yiddish of Sholem Asch's G-d of Vengeance directed by Obie award winner Aaron Beall "set Show World aflame" according to the Village Voice and was co-produced by Theater J and Rorschach Theatre in Washington DC in 2001.

When approached with the opportunity to translate and adapt a play for Theater J and Solas Nua, O'Brien chose Rabbi Doctor Silver, a play written in 1927 by the great Yiddish playwright Sholem Asch that had never been translated into English. In the play, the US is on the verge of depression, and women's rights are still a contested issue. Into this milieu arrives a young rabbi ready to shake up what it means to build and grow a congregation in the ever-changing landscape of the American Midwest. What can a rabbi do to change the times while also changing with the times?

Caraid O'Brien states: "Rabbi Doctor Silver debuted at Maurice Schwartz's 3,000-seat Yiddish Art Theater on Second Avenue in New York City and was later produced in the European Yiddish theaters. In Rabbi Doctor Silver, Sholem Asch wonders if a bohemian woman with artistic ambitions can live within a spiritually progressive but socially conventional religious community. Never one to shy away from difficult questions, he asks: What is the nature of sin, who deserves to be forgiven, and are our institutions built to serve people in need or people with money?" She adds: "I am thrilled to be working with Solas Nua and Theater J on this commission, and to be part of Theater J's utterly unique and extremely needed Yiddish Theater Lab."

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

An Online First Look Reading of
RABBI DOCTOR SILVER
Written by Sholem Asch
Translated by Caraid O'Brien
Directed by Rex Daugherty

Produced by Theater J in collaboration with Solas Nua
Date: Sunday, May 1, 2022 (live zoom reading at 7:30 pm, available on demand from May 2 - 4, 2022)

Sholem Asch's fascinating Rabbi Doctor Silver gets its first-ever English translation by playwright Caraid O'Brien. Be a part of history as you listen to this play in English for the first time ever, written by the author of G-d of Vengeance and other Yiddish theater classics.

Tickets are free and are available at theaterj.org/ytl/spring or by calling 202.777.3210. The in-person readings will take place in the Goldman Theater at Theater J at the Edlavitch DCJCC, located at 1529 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036.

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