IN A STRANGER'S GRAVE
by MIRIAM METZINGER
In a Stranger's Grave is a timely drama about Esther, a young Israeli woman plunged into crisis when she learns about the death of her mother and the local Burial Society's shocking decision and revelation as to how they will bury her. When Esther and her sister Chana make different decisions about how to dignify their mother and, by extension, themselves, Esther is left to battle alone. Whether she is courageously stalwart or merely crazy is in the eye of the beholder.
Miriam Metzinger's play is a vital, nuanced addition to the current Israeli debate on conversion as it applies to the future of Judaism and that of the State of Israel.
SYNOPSIS
SCHOLARS
CAST
CREW
REVIEWS & MEDIA
Yakir Feldman, Jerusalem Post's In Jerusalem
UNSETTLING DISCOVERY: ‘IN A STRANGER’S GRAVE’
When one’s Jewish identity is suddenly stripped away, what is the price of cleaving to one’s convictions in the face of authority?
Once a Jew, always a Jew, right?
Not necessarily.
How would it affect you if you suddenly discovered that you (or your spouse and/or your children) are not Jewish? What would you do if the rabbinate one day informed you that you have been living unwittingly under false pretenses all of your life?
Can a lifelong committed Orthodox woman and her children abruptly find that they are outside the fold? What does it actually mean to be Jewish, anyway?
Unfortunately, questions of this nature are not theoretical for some people in our country. Such discoveries are made usually in the context of family life cycle events such as marriage or burial, and they can have profound impact on individuals and their families.
In a Stranger’s Grave is one such disturbing story.
In Jerusalem had the pleasure of attending a late-stage dress rehearsal of the world premiere of this thought-provoking play, which is opening, appropriately, in Jerusalem...
Click here for the whole article.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Unsettling-discovery-In-a-Strangers-Grave-589860
Barbara Sofer, Jerusalem Post Magazine
MORE THAN THE QUESTION OF ‘UN-JEWISHING’ SOMEONE
In Hebrew, we use the word “tragedia” to describe drama like Antigone, based on human suffering.
If you missed the play In a Stranger’s Grave, which completed its recent first sold-out run of seven performances at the Khan Theatre in Jerusalem, make sure you get tickets next time around. It’s scheduled to be performed again in September. The provocative play is about whether a convert can be “unjewished,” but it’s also a lot more.
In a Stranger’s Grave, in English, is written by Jerusalem playwright and actress Miriam Metzinger and directed by Efrat’s Yael Valier, founding creative director of the theater company Theater and Theology. It’s based on the Greek tragedy Antigone. For those whose university Sophocles is rusty, the fifth-century BCE Greek play centers on two sisters who want to see their brother buried with respect after he is killed fighting on the losing side of the Thebes Civil War. One sister, Antigone, is willing to risk her life to defy the new ruler’s order to leave his body in the field...
Click here for the whole article.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/More-than-the-question-of-un-Jewishing-someone-593109
OMNY English News Highlights; Interview with Playwright Miriam Metzinger
NEW PLAY EXPLORES CONVERSION AND IDENTITY
For the whole interview, click here.
Rabbi Johnny Solomon, Scholar and Writer, Personal Blog
Last night Donna and I went to see ‘In a Stranger’s Grave’ which is a play run by the Theater and Theology troupe examining the human, social and halachic issues concerning conversion revocation and Jewish identity as defined by the rabbanut and halacha in the Modern State of Israel...
...In general, when sensitive Jewish questions are explored on TV and in the theatre, much of the nuance - either in terms of the legal issues or the personal issues - is lost in translation. Remarkably, this is not the case with respect to ‘In a Stranger’s Grave’ which captures, with convincing drama and palpable emotion, real cases that regrettably occur on a far more regular basis than most of us are aware of...
Click here for the whole review.
Click here for R' Solomon's website.
Ruti Eastman, Never Ruthless, Times of Israel
PLAYING WITH THE GRAVE ISSUE OF CONVERSION ANNULMENT
It's unusual for a play to keep me from sleeping well. But I was in for one of those patented tossing-and-turning nights after watching Miriam Metzinger's play at Jerusalem's Khan Theater a few days before Shavuot.
Directed by Yael Valier as part of her debate-provoking Theater and Theology series, In a Stranger's Grave strikes very close to home for me. Two religious Jewish sisters prepare for the funeral of their mother in Israel, only to receive the shocking news that the burial society will not allow her to be buried in the Jewish section of the cemetery next to her husband. Their once-pious mother had discarded Jewish observance after the death of her husband, resulting in the rabbinical court questioning her original commitment at the time of her conversion to Judaism decades before...
Click here for the whole article.
https://rutieastman.blogspot.com/2019/06/playing-with-grave-issue-of-conversion.html?m=1
