The God Of Isaac
Image: Alexis Fishman, Lloyd Allison-Young & Claudia Ware
Picking up the issues raised by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre his 1944 essay Anti-Semite And Jew, American playwright James Sherman explores themes of identity, love, anti-Semitism and the inter-generational effects of the Holocaust in his play The God Of Isaac, directed for Eternity by Moira Blumenthal.
Featuring in the role of Isaac, Lloyd Allison-Young explains that the play is based on a Neo-Nazi uprising in Illinois in the late 1970s.
“The protagonist, Isaac Adams, is a young man desperately trying to understand what it means to be Jewish in the shadow of this uprising,” says Allison-Young.
But as Portnoy’s Complaint author Philip Roth knows, where there’s a Jewish boy there has to be a Jewish mother.
“The hook is that Isaac’s mother has decided to come along to this particular performance of The God Of Isaac, and she isn’t afraid to let him know what she thinks,” Allison-Young says.
I asked Allison-Young why this play is described as a “serious comedy”?
He says, “This is one of the theatrical tactics utilised by Sherman to imbue this potentially ‘heavy’ story with wondrous and hilarious surprises. It is a beautiful balance, and one that we’re all working very hard to honour.”
He concludes, “It is a play with serious themes, but it is hilarious. There is a tremendous playfulness to Sherman’s writing. It is no mean feat to weave such nimble wit and humour into the true story of a Neo-Nazi uprising. Fuck the Nazis.”
Until Sep 22. Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst. $46-$59+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.darlinghursttheatre.com
By Irina Dunn.
