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How often do you see a comedy that’s not only consistently hilarious but is
also a work of real substance, a play that makes you both laugh and think
at the same time? Not often, I’d venture to guess. But Daniel Goldfarb’s
Modern Orthodox, currently getting its west coast premiere at Theatre 40
in Beverly Hills is precisely that comedy.
Like Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, it puts two very different characters in
the same space and lets the arrows fly, and the laughs. In Modern
Orthodox, Oscar and Felix are replaced by Hershel (call him Hersh) Klein
and Ben Jacobson. Hersh is an orthodox Jew (or modern orthodox, as Ben
would say, because at least he dresses in this century) and Ben is a high
holiday Jew (or as Hersh refers to him, an ersatz Jew), and each man is
convinced that he is superior to the other. It is their culture clash, as well
as their gradual coming to understand and appreciate each other’s
culture, that makes Modern Orthodox such a richly rewarding experience.
Plus it's got two splendid love stories to tell.
Hersh and Ben meet cute when Ben decides to buy his longtime live-in
girlfriend Hannah an engagement ring. Hersh is a wholesaler (for what
Jew in his right mind would pay retail?) whose English is liberally sprinkled
with Yiddish. He is planning to marry a Jewish woman he’s never met (she
lives in Belgium), and when, for reasons best left unrevealed, she becomes
unavailable, Hersh decides to crash at Ben and Hannah’s
apartment…and the fun begins.
What makes Modern Orthodox such a great piece of writing is the respect
it pays to both Hersh’s and Ben’s beliefs and conventions while at the
same time making good-natured fun of them. Only Jews (or anyone else)
without a sense of humor could take offense at playwright Goldfarb’s
barbs, so if you lack one, you might want to stay home. But you don’t
have to be Jewish to love this play.
Director Howard Teichman pretty much insured a brilliantly acted
production when he cast the play’s four actors. Ross Benjamin has
inherited his parents’ (Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss) comedic
talents (and looks). He is a wonderful Ben, a the perfect straight man for
costar Michael Goldstrom’s Hersh. Goldstrom, who created the role in the
New York production, is absolutely magnificent, in quite possibly the best
comedic performance of the season. He makes Hersh lovably annoying,
someone you want to scream at and hug at the same time. His offstage
crying jag is worth the price of a ticket in and of itself. He is matched by
Robyn Cohen as Hannah. Cohen is that rarity, a beautiful comedienne
who can really act. Her scene with Goldstrom, where he comforts her
after a near tragedy has struck her in the delivery room, requires her to cry
real tears (as the audience is laughing at Hersh’s antics) in a scene which
moves effortlessly from poignancy to slapstick and back again. She is
wondrous in the role. Finally, there is Shari Albert, who makes an eleventh
(or maybe tenth) hour appearance as Rachel, Hersh’s Internet date (they
met at JewDate.com). Albert turns the Jewish American Princess cliché
upside down and inside out in a performance that is funny, sexy, and
adorable.
I have only two suggestions to make. At nearly two hours, the play would
seem to merit an intermission (which would allow audience members to
“discuss amongst themselves”). Also, scene changes take about twice as
long as they should, and if they can be streamlined (does the bed really
need a headboard?), it would be all for the better.
But minor caveats aside, Modern Orthodox is a must see comedy
(regardless of your religious affiliation) and a real feather in Theatre 40s
cap! I’m going back to see it again!
Plays in repertory with Modern Orthodox through September 2, 2007.
Information/reservations(310) 364-0535, or www.theatre40.org. Theatre
40, The Reuben Cordova Theatre on the Beverly Hills High School Campus,
241 Moreno Drive, in Beverly Hills.
--Steven Stanley
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