One boorish plumber, his fed-up wife, his only daughter and her starchy statistician fiancé. Stir in a couple of overbearing in-laws and a sexy widow who lives upstairs. Garnish with outlandish musical numbers and a dash of meshugas. Served chilled.
We’ll name this concoction “The Marriage Contract” (“Di Ksube”), one of the most lasting Israeli comedies of all time. It plays March 16 to April 6 at the JCC in Manhattan.
“It’s evocative of a really good episode of ‘All in the Family,’” said director Motl Didner, 34, of the Yiddish theater group Folksbiene. “It’s a naturalistic view of a working-class family in Tel Aviv.”
That’s not all. “The Marriage Contract” is a naughty romp that puts Yiddish theater back on the charts. “This is definitely not your Bubbe and Zaide’s Yiddish theater,” Didner said.
The play was originally written by the legendary Ephraim Kishon in Hebrew in 1953, and was one of the longest running hits on the Israeli stage. This version is updated to 1974, “a fun period as far as fashions go,” Didner said.
There will be a few surprises as well. “I don’t want to give them away,” Didner said, adding only that they will “push boundaries.”
The play centers on the 25-year marriage of Eli and Shifre Borozovski, brought into question when their daughter’s future in-laws insist on checking the Borozovskis’ wedding contract to ensure that their statistician son is marrying a legitimate young lady in the eyes of Jewish law.
The trouble starts when the Borozovskis can’t seem to find that contract. Not only does the Missus use the occasion to get back at her Archie Bunker-like husband, but a (very) lonely widow upstairs decides to crash the scene, as does a handsome young kibbutznik.
Yiddish and non-Yiddish speakers will enjoy this raucous lark that also happens to be smart: Anyone who’s experienced marriage, relationships, or felt generational tensions (aka: everyone), will cringe knowingly.
“It’s not simply a matter of witty quips by these characters in some absurd situation,” Didner said. “It’s a comedy with depth.”
The play stars actors Dani Marcus (who starred in last season’s smash hit Yiddish “Pirates of Penzance”) as the daughter and Folksbiene veteran actor I.W. “Itzy” Firestone as her father.
There will be PowerPoint-style English and Russian subtitles.
“The Marriage Contract” begins previews for its off-Broadway run on March 16 at the JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue. The show officially begins March 16 and runs to April 6. Tickets go on sale Feb. 1 through Ticket Central, by phone at (212) 279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com.