Sholem Aleichem’s Wandering Star and Other Plays of Jewish Life

These six original plays by David S. Lifson range from hilarious comedy to poignant drama. Defying a theatrical tradition that confines Jewish plays to a trite formula of “laughter and tears,” Lifson’s works do not hesitate to explore the bitter experiences of the traduced and suffering Jew. Drawing his themes from the larger perspective of collective Jewish life and history. Lifson crystallized these abstracts concerns into striking portrayals of individual characters and actions. Rather than attempting to present his vision of the a Jewish diaspora in a panoramic fashion that embraces the total expanse of the relationship of Jews to thier world, this writer focuses instead on single members of that group, elucidating the experience of the whole by involving the audience in the very real lives and tribulations of his remarkable characters.