Theatre Ariel is producing its first mainstage production since 2009 with the Philadelphia premiere of Amsterdam, by award-winning Israeli playwright Maa Arad Yasur, translated by Eran Edry. The play’s timely narrative captivated audiences as a reading at Theatre Ariel’s in our 2022 – 2023 Salon Season, and now audiences will be able to experience the full power of this play. Amsterdam runs November 14-24 at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American Street. Opening Night is Thursday, November 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18-$36 and are available at www.theatreariel.org.
The play is directed by Theatre Ariel Artistic Director Jesse Bernstein. Below, Bernstein talks more about the production, why it was important for the theatre to produce a mainstage show again now, and what he hopes Philly audiences take away from the story.
Q: What are some of the themes and storylines in Amsterdam?
A: The play is about the stories we create about our lives and what happens to us when those carefully constructed stories are challenged. Specifically, Amsterdam tells the story of an expat Israeli musician living in Amsterdam, trying to assimilate into the cultural elite of Europe. But the arrival of a mysterious, unpaid bill upends the story she’s been telling herself about belonging in that world. Instead, she discovers she must reconstruct a story of the past in order to tell a truer story of herself in the present. In this instance, the story of the past relates to the Holocaust, and the play explores in a visceral way how the legacy of that atrocity hangs over the place where the main character lives, making her intensely conscious of her ethnic and national identity. In a larger sense, the play is also about the way so many minorities live in a country where the “bills” for the atrocities of the past have yet to be paid. In America, that might be slavery, or Indigenous displacement and genocide, or Japanese internment camps, and other acts for which the nation struggles to atone.
Q: Were you familiar with the play or playwright prior to Theatre Ariel’s production?
A: I read the play when I was planning my first season as Theatre Ariel’s artistic director and I was blown away by it. I’d never really read anything like it. We ended up doing it as a reading in our 2022 – 2023 Salon Season, but even then I knew I wanted to fully mount this play. Since I first read it, I’ve had the pleasure to connect with Maya in person in Israel and communicate with her by email — including about this production. I’ve since read more of her plays and I’ve become a big fan of her work in general!
Q: Amsterdam is Theatre Ariel’s first mainstage production since 2009. Can you talk a bit about the long pause and why it was important to produce a show again now?
A: Before 2009, in addition to some mainstage productions, Theatre Ariel did a lot of touring around the tri-state area. When the economy crashed in 2008, touring opportunities dried up, and the company was forced to pivot. Founding Artistic Director Deborah Baer Mozes began the Salon Series, which became very popular and developed a loyal audience. When I became AD in 2022, the Board and I believed it was time for Theatre Ariel to return to Mainstage productions. One of the main reasons for that is we believe that Philadelphia — like Washington, DC; New York City; Rochester, NY; and other places — deserves to have a professional theatre company that tells stories about the Jewish experience that other theatres can’t or won’t, and to do so in an authentic way. We believe those stories deserve to be told in full and to have a place in the theatre season alongside the rest of the wonderful shows being done in Philly. And we know that since Charlottesville in 2017, anti-semitism has been on a steady rise. Bringing Theatre Ariel’s work to a larger audience in a fuller way can both help give Jewish audiences a sense of pride and community, and welcome non-Jewish audiences to learn more about us and create more empathy and understanding.
Q: Why is Amsterdam such a great fit for not just the theatre, but Philadelphia specifically?
A: Amsterdam is raw in its style and tone, unflinching in its observations, and unsparing in its criticism, with a sharp and biting sense of humor. All of which sounds pretty Philly to me! Artistically, I think Philadelphia audiences are looking for things that are fresh and new. The way that Maya’s script plays with structure and theatrical devices feels very new and alive and exciting, and audiences will experience a rare piece of theatre when they see the show.
Q: What do you hope audiences take away from this story?
A: I believe the role of art is to provide vocabulary for conversation. The story opens the door for conversation (and every performance of Amsterdam will be followed by a post-show conversation). My hope is that our production of Amsterdam gives audiences a new way to talk about their own identity- especially in relation to place and time; to talk about what it means to assimilate or code switch for them personally or those they know, and how we can reconcile the past and the present, both internally and externally.
Amsterdam opens November 14th! Tickets on sale now at www.theatreariel.org
Philadelphia RowHome Magazine's Blog 