Through July 1st at the Odyssey, Bad Jews brings audiences dark humor, fast wit, and dialog so smart it would make Aaron Sorkin weep. Created by Joshua Harmon, the play introduces opinionated Daphna/Diana Feygenbaum, a college student donning the mantle of her Jewishness with a passion. In town for the funeral of her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, Daphna (Jeanette Deutsch) is staying with cousins Liam and Jonah Haber (Noah James and Austin Rogers), in a luxe condo purchased by their parents.
Daphna doesn’t care for their seemingly indolent acceptance of the luxurious residence, but she’s more focused on finding and keeping her grandfather’s chai, which he’d hidden even during his incarceration in a concentration camp.
What Daphna doesn’t know can hurt her – and everyone around her – Liam already has the chai and plans to gift it to his non-Jewish fiancee. And so the war of the words begins.
Liam takes the secular side, Daphna the Jewish ideological trope, while Liam’s brother Jonah and fiancee Melody (Lila Hood) can only duck the verbal missiles.
Funny, poignant, bitter, biting, and intensely relatable, the richly human, insanely provocative battle of the chai also brings home the horrors of the Holocaust, the importance of loyalty, the sting of betrayal, and the power of words.
Strong performances by all four cast members, an evocative set, and tight direction throughout the play’s 90-minute run time makes this a gem.
- Genie Davis; photos: courtesy of the Odyssey.