at Traveling Jewish Theatre
FoolsFury packed Traveling Jewish Theatre on Sunday night with friends, funders, foreign consulates and, of course, the press for anticipated opening night of its world premiere English translation of Fabrice Melquiot's French play, The Devil on All Sides. And it's the best show the company has done to date--and that's no small praise. A simultaneously heartbreaking and absurd look at the war in ex-Yugoslavia, the play follows Lorka (solidly played by Rod Hipskind), a Christian and reluctant soldier who falls in love with Elma (an excellent Nora el Samahy), a Muslim. As Lorko's mother knits and knits--literally and figuratively trying to mend the holes in her house--her sons fall victim to the violence. Lorko deserts, another keeps losing body parts, one completely loses his 15-year-old innocence. Ben Yalom's beautiful translation and his sure direction create a harsh and poetic production infused with gritty realism and, paradoxically, dreamlike expressionism.
Playing through May 28.

Photo of Rod Hipskind and Nora el Samahy in The Devil On All Sides by Wendy Yalom.

The Devil on All Sides