Monday, November 1, 2010

Author interview: Michael Nathanson

Michael Nathanson is the artistic director of Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. He is a Governor General nominated playwright and his new play, One of Ours, debuts this spring.

The plot of One of Ours is simple, reminiscent of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park. A free-spirited, non-Jewish actor comes to West Hawk Lake to meet her fiancee's family.

Nathanson explains that the tension in One of Ours is not a religious tension but a class tension, a societal tension. It is the exploration of a free spirit grappling with the monied narrowness of a family who grew up in a Jewish fish bowl.

The play grapples with the inherent insularity of a small community, in this case the Jewish community. The central question of One of Ours is, “What does it mean to be a Jew and how do we deal with others?”

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