Janet Ulrich Brooks and Craig Spidle
Immigrants bring their home with them in their culture. Playwright James Sherman returns with a salute to the historic Yiddish theater through the door-slamming, hand-wringing, arched-eyebrow farce he’s best known for. It’s a mixed bag.
Commercial actor Jack (Craig Spidle) performs a benefit reading of an old Yiddish play with his wife (Janet Ulrich Brooks) and an attractive newcomer (Laura Scheinbaum) he has his eye on. Simultaneously, his grandfather Jacob confronts similar artistic and romantic challenges on what is left of the Yiddish theater circuit.
The ensemble masters the comic timing that farces demand. Spidle handles the Jack/Jacob duality with aplomb, but it’s hard to root for a guy so deeply into his lechery. Brooks, a fine talent, is wasted as the wife who does nothing but chase after her wandering hubby. Scheinbaum is fresh and quick, but her relationship with Jack/Jacob is improbable. Such an important theater scene deserves more. (Lisa Buscani)
Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 North Lincoln, (773)871-3000, through June 20.
