“Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” at Strawdog Theatre Company/Photo: Jenn Udoni-Franco Images
At the end of every year, we are all again reminded of the story of a poor Jewish family who, after traveling a great distance, must beg for food and shelter from an innkeeper, content to sleep in a barn among the animals.
Of course, I’m talking about… “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.
Who were you thinking of?
The tale of Hershel of Ostropol and his battle against supernatural demons, based on the award-winning 1989 children’s book by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, is presented by Strawdog Theatre Company and performed at The Edge Off Broadway and geared to young children. Every performance is free of charge—sold-out shows will put you on a waitlist.
“Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblin’s” Nicholas Pardo and Melanie Vitaterna and “goblin”/Photo: Jenn Udoni-Franco Images
The “Ovals of Ostropol,” a roving band of performers, travel from town to town, plying their trade in exchange for a bite to eat, a room to sleep and a “few shekels.” When a stingy innkeeper refuses them accommodations, the troupe decides to remind them of the spirit of Hanukkah by staging a performance of “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” a morality play starring the troupe’s leader, Hershel, about his sly grandfather, also named Hershel.
The performance is a team effort, modeled after the traveling theatrical troupes of eighteenth-century Europe. The entire cast pulls triple duty as actors, puppeteers and musicians—of the six performers, three of them can really play. An ensemble number has the cast of six arm in arm, pinching the strings of an instrument with their right hands while strumming the bottom of another with their left hands. It sounds as hard as it looks and is goofy enough to elicit a few chuckles.
(Grandfather) Hershel, played by Hershel, must liberate a town from an anti-Hanukkah curse placed on them by a band of goblins, each represented by a unique puppet and often operated by multiple people. They range from tiny, fork-legged sock puppets to towering monstrosities—I saw one little girl’s jaw drop, eyes grow wide and stand straight up at the sight of the eight-foot-tall Goblin King!
Each goblin represents a different vice—greed, vanity, covetousness—and along the way small tidbits of Jewish faith and culture are shared, like the rules for playing with a dreidel. The defeat of each goblin is followed by lighting a candle on the menorah and singing of the appropriate day’s blessing—the audience is strongly encouraged to sing along.
For a free performance, “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” is a fun, energetic show fit for the whole family. The uber-animated cast is sure to keep the attention of younger viewers, and positive life lessons are learned by all.
We even learn about the last people who missed out on the story of “Hershel and the Hanukah Goblins.” You see, they… Well, I won’t spoil it. But I will tell you, the only way to avoid their fate is to take the kiddos and see the show for yourself.
“Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” at The Edge Off Broadway, 1133 West Catalpa (on the side of the building), strawdog.org. All performances are free, through January 1, 2023.
