The Kansas City Repertory Theatre will present the first regional production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel’s “Indecent” from Jan. 18 through Feb. 10 at Spencer Theatre at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
“Indecent” chronicles the history of Jewish author Sholem Asch’s controversial Yiddish drama “God of Vengeance,” which made its Broadway debut in 1923 and included the first lesbian kiss in a Broadway play.
“Indecent” explores “censorship, immigration, anti-Semitism and the behind-the-scenes artists who risked their careers and their lives by staging (‘God of Vengeance’),” according to a news release from the KC Rep, which is co-producing “Indecent” with Arena Stage and Baltimore Center Stage. The play’s choreography is by Erika Chong Shuch, and its music direction and original music are by Alexander Sovronsky. It features traditional Yiddish folk music of the early 20th century, including Klezmer.
Eric Rosen, whose final day as the KC Rep’s artistic director was Aug. 31, 2018, is directing “Indecent.” Rosen said in the release that he had become familiar with “God of Vengeance” more than 20 years ago and lauded its “extraordinary place” in the history of both Jewish and LGBT theater.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Rosen said the cast of “Indecent” had been rehearsing in Washington, D.C., when he learned of the shooting at Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 27, 2018. Eleven Jewish worshippers were killed, and six other people were injured, including four police officers.
“I’m very sorry the play is now more relevant than it was few months ago,” he said. “But I’m glad we’re doing the play now because of the rise of white nationalism and anti-Semitic violence. As a Jewish and LGBT artist and a person who’s lived his life in the theater, it’s a play about all the things that I am.”
An unusual aspect of the production, Rosen said, is that each scene has a title projected for the audience in Yiddish and English, which was Vogel’s idea.
Victor Raider-Wexler, who lives in Overland Park and attends The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, plays several roles in the play including The Elder (Otto) and is a member of the ensemble. Many people consider “God of Vengeance” the seminal play in Yiddish theater, he said. “Indecent” was presented late last year in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and received standing ovations every night.
“Generally speaking, the audiences are just crazy about it,” Raider-Wexler said. “We’re getting a lot of love from the other side of the footlights.”
Raider-Wexler finds the play challenging because he plays so many roles, including doing a scene seven times in different settings, he said.
“The scene changes each time I do it,” he said. “There’s something kind of thrilling in that. … I’ve also gone out to a couple of schools (where there are) kids who’ve seen it. It’s amazing what they see. The kids see everything and understand it and track it very closely and very well. Also, in some ways it’s a happy show with a lot of music and joy, but it’s about a very dark period of history.”
Rosen thinks the play is especially important because “it helps us remember that Jewish intellectual life was rigorous, it was passionate, (and) it was creative and progressive in the early 20th century,” he said.
“So the play reminds us of that and brings these major forces in Jewish life and Jewish history to life. Especially right now in uncertain times, I find it morally important that we remember that our ancestors were as alive and interesting and argumentative and afraid as we are right now.”