Nearly every June for the past two decades Congregation Emeth,
South County’s Reform Jewish Community, has held a weekend retreat
they call Scholar in Residence.
Nearly every June for the past two decades Congregation Emeth, South County’s Reform Jewish Community, has held a weekend retreat they call Scholar in Residence.
Previous topics have included prayer, Zionism, the history of Jerusalem and Jewish storytelling.
This year’s program was held at Monte Toyon, a conference center in the relaxing beauty of the mountains above Aptos.
Its focus was on the Traveling Jewish Theater, a well-regarded theater group headquartered in San Francisco. Three actors from the Educational Touring and Outreach Program presented an original play, “Paradise.”
This work is based on a story which should be familiar to most people, the first three chapters of Genesis, the biblical account of creation.
According to the director’s notes, “The creation story is actually two myths welded into one. The first consists of the Priestly author’s stately procession of chaos to order, with humans crowning creation and a well-deserved day of rest. The second, by the biblical author J, is perhaps the juicier tale of Adam, Eve, and the serpent.”
The play begins with a nearly bare stage, the only scenery a large kiosk-like tree representing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Two humans emerge from under a brown blanket, Adam and Eve being formed from the dust of the earth.
As they become familiar with their own bodies and each other, the third character in the story appears, Samella the Serpent. This snake, fated to cause such woe to mankind, seems to be motivated by jealousy of the two new “featherless, furless, smooth-skinned creatures.”
The play presents the well-known story of man’s fall from grace provocatively, asking the audience to grapple anew with the great themes suggested by Genesis: authority, freedom of choice, “God as Big Daddy,” separation, envy.
The cast provides a good deal of humor. Some of it is in their physical actions and reactions; much of it is their witty dialogue:
• The serpent, referring to Adam and Eve, says, “They’re my ticket out of here.”
• Adam, commenting on Eve’s naming of a bird, the dodo: “He’s so embarrassed he won’t even fly.”
• The serpent, persuading the humans to defy God: “Contentment is just ignorance with a smile.”
After the play and a tasty lunch in the Monte Toyon dining room people reassembled in the theater for a discussion session with the cast. A good deal of it focused on the idea of paradise: Would a place where everything was provided with no effort required be perfect, or would it give rise to monotony and boredom, becoming a a kind of hell?
Finally the three cast members led an interactive workshop dealing with performance. Karine Koret, graduate of Boston University School for the Arts; Pamela Rosin, graduate of the Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theater; and Dan Wolf, graduate of the Actor Training Program at the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts, led the audience through a series of creative exercises dealing with flexible movement, visualization, rhythm and freestyle rhyme.
“Paradise” is designed to tour schools, community centers and outdoor festivals. For more information about this entertaining and thought-provoking performance call (415) 399-1809 ext. 301.
