'High Holidays' no celebration of family life
Picture being forced to spend a long evening with your loudest, most offensive relatives.
The wife is a foul-mouthed, slipper-tossing shrew who loves her kids but can't stop screaming at them. The husband is even harder to take - a verbally abusive man who seems to have endless ways to let his sons know how stupid and useless they are.
Now, imagine paying to spend time with them ...
That's kind of what it feels like to sit through more than two hours with the bickering family of four at the heart of Alan Gross' "High Holidays," now in its world premiere at Goodman Theatre.
It's written as a comedy-drama, and there are a few laughs. But cruel, cutting comments are no laughing matter - especially when they're aimed at children.
The Romans, a Jewish family living in a largely Jewish Chicago suburb, should be enjoying each other's company as they prepare for the start of Rosh Hashana and look forward to son Billy's upcoming bar mitzvah.
It's 1963. John F. Kennedy is in the White House. The civil rights movement is just getting underway. And Jews who came to this country to escape bigotry or make better lives for themselves are trying to find their way in a changing America, without letting go of the language and traditions that both bring them together and set them apart.
As a coming-of-age ritual, the bar mitzvah service and party are ripe for analysis and even comedy - just ask anyone who's ever planned one. But rather than delving into the deeper meaning, or even poking fun at how the festivities can get out of hand, Gross uses the milestone to set one whopper of a family argument in motion.
Billy (Max Zuppa) is nowhere near ready to read from the Torah. Told to put on a yarmulke to practice, he pulls on a Daniel Boone cap instead. His father Nate (Keith Kupferer) is convinced that the kid is slow, an umbleck - basically a Yiddish word for loser. Mom (Rengin Altay) alternates between defending her boychik, and bellowing at him.
Then, older son Rob (Ian Paul Custer) comes home from college with a bombshell announcement about dropping out of school in favor of a folk music career. Furthermore, he'd rather hang out with his buddies than spend extra time with his clearly pained parents. "Goyim have friends," Nate tells him. "Jews have family."
There's plenty of fodder here, and the arguments would be easier to take if they peeled back to reveal insightful thoughts about tradition, assimilation and family bonds. Too often, though, the deeper meaning is drowned out by swearing, shrieking and slapping.
All four cast members do their best to flesh out their characters and to bring their inner pain to the surface. Nate, for example, explodes in anger more than once, but thanks to Kupferer's multilayered portrayal you can see the hurt peeking through the cracks. And Zuppa does provide comic relief with his backyard antics and overactive imagination.
Kevin Depinet's set is another bright spot, a charming throwback to suburban kitchens and living rooms of the early '60s.
Yet, in the end, "High Holidays" aims for the low road. Many Jews are likely to find it offensive; non-Jews, on the other hand, are likely to lose out on what's even remotely funny about some of the Jewish humor and to grow tired of having to consult the Yiddish glossary tucked into their Playbills.
"High Holidays"
Rating: Two stars
Location: Goodman Theatre's Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago (312) 443-3800, goodman-theatre.org
Times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Sunday, Nov. 29. No performances Thanksgiving Day or Sunday night, Nov. 22.
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $15-$40
Parking: Paid lots nearby
Rating: For older teens and adults; features strong language, drug use and brief nudity