The Marsh San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
The Marsh is proud to present accalimed playwright/actor Charlie Varon's Rabbi Sam. The new show is Varon's first in nine years; he plays all twelve characters in the hilarious story of an ambitious rabbi who sparks chaos when he's hired by a suburban synagogue.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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The last date listed for Rabbi Sam was Sunday November 8, 2009 / 7:00pm. (view all dates)
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A really wonderful show--funny, poignant, telling truths about religion that are not often told (outloud anyway). If I hadn't been so tired, I'd have enjoyed it even more, I'm sure.
I dunno - this show had A LOT of promise, but detoured into areas that were not so interesting. "Rabbi Sam" starts off talking about how to get Jews EXCITED about Judaism the way Baptists are so gung-ho at their services, but stays very general as to how, or what it would take to make it so. Or, what makes him so equipped to do it. Instead, it sidetracks into the 'congregation'- those for and against him, and loses the 'big idea.' I would've liked to see this charasmatic rabbi developed more, perhaps using modern media to project his viewpoints, and see where the chips fell.
I have been to 10 Goldstar performances in the last 6 months. This is the first we actually left because of disappointment. CV is a wonderful performer. But the show could have been a documentary as there was very little at which to laugh. As a comedy, the silence was deafening, over-shadowed by some snoring. We should have been sitting in the back where we could have made an early escape. Instead we had to wait until the much appreciated intermission. I know the show is sold out. I suggest try to sell your tickets on Craig's list. If you MUST go sit in the rear for early exit opportunities.
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The Marsh books an eclectic mix of alternative and avant-garde theater, performance art, comedy, and the occasional musical act, with an emphasis on solo performances and seldom-staged plays. The room is homey and dimly lighted, and you can purchase freshly baked treats and excellent coffee at intermission.
“Have we hired the brilliant spiritual revolutionary of our time – or is he a nut job?”
– Leon Goldblatt, one of a dozen characters played by Charlie Varon inRabbi Sam
Playwright and performer Charlie Varon, creator of the hit shows Rush Limbaugh in Night School and The People’s Violin, will perform his new solo play, Rabbi Sam, at The Marsh. This marks the first new play Varon has premiered in nine years.
Rabbi Sam tells the story of Sam Isaac, a rabbi who wants to reinvent American Judaism, and the havoc that erupts in the congregation that hires him. Some congregants love the new rabbi. Some can’t stand him. And, of course, some can’t stand each other. Rabbi Sam’s spiritual ambitions slip on the banana peels of ego, turf and personality.
Although the play’s subject is American Judaism, its theme of a community divided by change is universal. Rabbi Sam, says Varon, is “a play for Jews, Gentiles, and anyone who has ever attended a meeting.” The ordinary, suburban synagogue in the play is struggling with what every American religious community struggles with – how to make sense of an old-world tradition in the crazy improvisation that is America.
Varon, an award-winning playwright and comic actor, plays all 12 characters in his play, including the rabbi and eight contentious board members. The San Francisco Chronicle has credited Charlie Varon with “redefining the art form” of solo theater. With Rabbi Sam, he is again pushing the boundaries, mixing comedy and drama, putting an entire community onstage, and even portraying nine different characters in a single scene.
Varon and Ford, who have been collaborating since 1991, took three years to create Rabbi Sam. Music for the play was composed by noted New York jazz pianist Bruce Barth.
Varon’s previous plays have enjoyed extended runs in San Francisco, toured, been released on CD, and won numerous awards. His shows include Rush Limbaugh in Night School (1994; revived 2004), Visiting Professor of Pessimism (2003), Ten Day Soup (2002), The People’s Violin (2000), and Ralph Nader Is Missing! (1997). As playwright and performer, he has received awards from the American Theatre Critics’ Association and the Bay Area Critics Circle. He is the recipient of a SF Bay Guardian Goldie Award and the 1994 Will Glickman Award for best new play in San Francisco (Rush Limbaugh in Night School). Recently, he collaborated on and directed Dan Hoyle’s show Tings Dey Happen, which won the Will Glickman Award for 2007 and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award in New York. Varon is an artist-in-residence at The Marsh, where he has taught solo performance workshops for 15 years.
Rabbi Sam was developed at The Marsh, with additional support from Theater J in Washington, DC, and A Traveling Jewish Theater. The play was funded by an Individual Artist Commission from the SF Arts Commission, and grants from the Fleishhacker Foundation, Gaia Fund, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and Zellerbach Family Foundation.
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