Do you want literal laugh-out-loud comedy? Genuine dialogue? Characters so relatable you’ll find yourself or someone you know closely among the cast, even if you’re not Jewish? Look no further.
18 Jews Order Chinese Food is enjoying its world-premiere run at Persephone Theatre, but if the quality of the show is any indication this premiere will be the first of many productions to come.
The show does not hesitate even for a moment. The lights have barely come up on the first scene before chaos reigns as three generations of a Jewish family scramble to prepare themselves for the patriarch Jack’s funeral (and order some Chinese food — but not any of those bundles, we want variety).
We are greeted to the madcap family dynamics right away: matriarch and recently widowed Chavi (Lisa Bayliss) trying to keep order in both her house and her world with daughter Sharon (Aviva Armour-Ostroff), son-in-law Lior (Brian Linds), granddaughters Nami and Kiva (Miranda Hughes-McKnight and Katie Moore) and Nami’s non-Jewish partner Ben (Andrew Taylor).
Playwright Jenna Berenbaum magnificently balances ideas of tradition with humanity: when do our traditions matter, when can we let go, and what really makes us who we are. Their weaving of Jewish tradition into the show was done invitingly, with both humour and grace. It was to the point that I was Googling Jewish words after the show, not because the show was confusing for having them but rather to gain a little more insight into both the rituals and the hijinks occurring onstage. Taylor as Ben played the part of the unknowing newcomer into the Jewish family with charm and affability that helped bring the audience into some of these traditions without making anyone feel lesser or confused.
The first act comes out swinging, and the pace is almost perfectly balanced between bouts of high-octane back-and-forth hilarity between family members and emotional pauses that give glimpses into how everyone was coping with their grief. Bayliss as the commanding widow Chavi gave an absolutely stunning performance, bringing both giggles and gravitas to the grieving matriarch of the family. Armour-Stroff as the slightly drunken and struggling-to-connect Sharon shone brilliantly as well, providing an almost picture-perfect arc as both a daughter and a mother who comes full circle to deal with her own grief in a poignant resolution.
18 Jews Order Chinese Food captures the all-too-relatable highs and lows of loss and grieving through the lens of Jewish tradition — but you don’t need to be Jewish to understand the implacable constant that is our struggle to come to terms with the finality of death.
And it can’t be overstated — this show is just so damn funny. From the little interactions between family members to the hilarious (and hilariously awkward) moments built up over time, Berenbaum creates comedy with taste and wit and modern charm that is well-executed by a sharp ensemble cast.
Kudos to the clever set and light design, too. Carla Orosz’ austere, classical-looking set brought together by ingenious use of the slow-moving revolve centre stage captured the totality of the chaotic home without breaking the action.
The show has a few pimples. For all the accolades that go to the pacing of the first half, the play slows to a plodding crawl in the second. A lot of concepts are introduced in this show — grief, tradition, fertility issues, familial pressure, the place of religion in society, the place of women in religion — and trying to take on each of them in turn is not always to the play’s benefit. The play was at its sharpest when the focus was tight on the overarching themes of grief and tradition, with characters chiefly orbiting those ideas. If the first act was a tightly-knit string connecting the show, the second was that string unraveling into all its individual threads that took too much time to tie off.
But all of that almost doesn’t matter because at the end, they stick the landing. The finale scene showcases all the best qualities of what it means to be family, faults and all.
Berenbaum’s writing isn’t just good, it’s great — capturing laughter and love in a way that makes all the characters larger instead of smaller, showing us our flaws and reveling in how flawed we all are. Death might be difficult to bear, and there’s really no avoiding it — so why not enjoy the time we have with each other now?
This is the kind of locally written and produced play that both Berenbaum and Persephone Theatre should hang their proverbial hats on. It’s uniquely witty and moving at the same time, and it should make theatregoers proud to say “18 Jews Order Chinese Food? It’s a great show. First put on in Saskatoon — and I was there to see the inaugural run.”
18 Jews Order Chinese Food runs until Feb. 16 at Persephone Theatre.
