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Paul (Stephen Schnetzer) accepts a prayer shawl from Chava (Patti Gardner) in Theatre Lab’s production of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Yiddish Speaker / Photoz by Morgan Sophia Photography
By Jan Sjostrom
How bad could things get if a Christian Nationalist insurrection turned the United States into a surveillance state? Look no farther than The Last Yiddish Speaker, Deborah Zoe Laufer’s season opener at Theatre Lab in Boca Raton.
In this chilling, fast-paced drama with a streak of magical realism, a Jewish father and daughter rely on their wits and powers of deceit to survive in a fundamentalist rural community where the slightest divergence from the norm could cost them their lives.
Laufer directs a 95-minute, intermission-free production that’s as beautiful and surprising as it is disturbing. Impeccably portrayed characters grapple with moral conflicts that are in no way theoretical. Moment by moment, the pieces fall into place until the plot reaches a cliff’s edge.
In the story, Paul and his teenaged daughter Mary—or Sarah, which is her real name—have fled New York City to hole up in a place where they hope they will be safe if they keep their heads down.
Their 17-year-old neighbor John is charged with making sure they follow the rules and don’t shelter people who the authorities consider “sinners.”
Night-time raids are commonplace. Malefactors disappear. Paul and Mary have a slight advantage because John is also Mary’s boyfriend. But he could swing either way because he’s never been exposed to anything but the party line.
One night, a truck rumbles up to their house and drops off an old peasant woman. A note pinned to her shawl says she’s their great aunt Chava and it’s their turn to protect her.
Chava speaks only Yiddish so there’s no getting more information from her. Terrified that the authorities will discover her, Paul wants to turn her in but relents when Mary objects.
When Chava eventually gives up the pretense of knowing no English, she claims to have lived for centuries. She shows up whenever Jews are threatened with extinction, she says.
For Paul and Mary being Jewish has been little more than a death sentence. Gently, Chava coaxes them back into the fold.
Chava’s arrival destabilizes the house of cards that’s concealed father and daughter and propels them relentlessly toward the cliff.
Stephen Schnetzer plays Paul as a man who’s first and foremost a father, ready to spring into action whenever his daughter is in danger. He’s the moderate who got run over when the far right vanquished the extreme left and his outspoken wife disappeared.
Gemma Berg’s Mary has reached the perilous stage when the game has become impossible to endure. She’s like a downed electrical wire, dangerously charged with nowhere to go.
Mary (Gemma Berg) and Chava (Patti Gardner) struggle to communicate shortly after Chava’s unexpected arrival.
Gage Callenius’ John cannot be dismissed as a villain. He’s bewildered by Mary’s foreign ideas and frightened by his response to her sexual advances. But he cares for her enough to keep coming back for more.
And Chava? Patti Gardner has her mannerisms and speech patterns down pat. But she also captures the matron’s otherworldliness. By the end of the show it’s still not clear what and who Chava is.
The entire play unfolds in Michael McClain’s wood-paneled set adorned with four camouflaging crucifixes. Thomas Shorrock’s lighting, which ranges from blinding headlights to shafts of heavenly light, and Matt Corey’s sound design—roaring trucks, nearby shouts and gunshots as well as soulful instrumentals—work in tandem to intensify the story. Dawn Shamburger’s costumes, especially Mary’s and Chava’s, echo the stages of the characters’ journeys.
The Last Yiddish Speaker, which was polished in Theatre Lab’s 2023 New Play Festival, is being unveiled in a three-theater rolling premiere. The play clearly demonstrates the value of supporting new work. It speaks to our times in a voice that’s well worth hearing.
Theatre Lab’s The Last Yiddish Speaker runs through Nov. 10 on the Heckscher Stage in Parliament Hall on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus at 777 Glades Road. Performances are held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 pm. on Sundays. Additional 3 p.m. matinees are held on Saturdays during the second and third weeks of the run. Running time 95 minutes without intermission. Tickets range from $35 to $45’ contact fauevents.com or call 561-297-6124.
