photo by SuzAnne Barabas
Dr. Zeblyan (John Pietrowski - seated) and Ishaq (Reathel Bean-standing) discuss how they will rewrite the Torah that the Taliban has stolen from them.
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"Two Jews Walk Into A War..." sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, and quite frankly it is. The bad joke is the central fact of this important new play by Seth Rozin. Playwright's Theatre has mounted its first production of 2010 as part of a rolling world premiere that began in Manalapan, Florida, continued to Long Branch, New Jersey, and is presently in Madison, New Jersey, home to Playwright's. The bad joke itself is that two of the last remaining Jews in Kabul, Afghanistan, are burying the third, who was their buffer. Ishaq (Reathel Bean) and Zeblyan (John Pietrowski) have no one between them to act as mediator, no one to give them their prayer schedule as they share the last synagogue standing in a war torn country that hates them. The two Jews didn't walk in to the war: the war ran into them.

Zeblyan is an Everyman sort of character, the regular guy who is questioning G-d, questioning why he stayed, how to survive and why his mortal enemy is now literally the only other Jew on Earth, in that part of the world. Ishaq is a more scholarly sort and when they begin trading barbed one-liners, rather than a rim-shot on a drum to signal where we laugh, their words are punctuated by the *ZING!* of automatic rifle fire. At first it was a bit distracting, but soon the realization came that ,without that hint, it might not have become apparent that it was all right to laugh at what they were saying.

Drew Francis' set is a bombed out shell of a synagogue where Ishaq and Zeblyan, Zeblyan and Ishaq are like a changing of the guard as they arrive for their daily prayers. Patricia Doherty's simple, effective costumes, Jill Nagle's subtle lighting design and sound design by Jeff Knapp combine to become something larger than the sum of the parts. We are in Kabul, feeling like we need to duck the rifle fire, and waiting for the plaster dust whenever the sound of explosions occurs.

Our heroes are discussing their options, when they have a chicken/egg conversation about whether they might attract a rabbi to focus their worship by writing to a rabbi first, or whether they need to obtain a Torah first, since they have neither. Their local rabbi was tortured and killed and that same day, the Taliban removed the Torah and destroyed it and the rabbis with whom they correspond recommend relocation rather than repopulation. Neither man has the means to purchase a Torah, but they decide to recreate it, since Ishaq memorized it in its entirety. Zeblyan obtains some paper in a scroll, and supplies the pens, and the journey to understanding begins.

What does it take for two people, equally certain that his way is correct, to realize that their different ways keep them apart? When people have the same basic belief system-Zeblyan and Ishaq are both Jews, but of different sects-when do the differences outweigh the ways they are the same, or vice versa?

Rozin's play lasts 90 minutes with no intermission, but the time passes quickly. We have two men who are complicated in their simplicity and, while they begin the show as mortal enemies, through the rewriting and reclaiming of their holiest books, the two men come to respect one another's differences, while dwelling in their common physical and intellectual spaces.

Make your reservations now, as the run was nearly sold out prior to the opening. Though two shows have already been added, this show is going places and Playwright's Theatre makes the experience touchingly intimate. This show is a crunchy and thought provoking treat for people that will give an abundance of food for thought long after the viewing. In a co-production with New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, NJ, "Two Jews Walk Into A War..." previewed on January 21 and run for three weeks through February 7, with new shows now added. Student-appropriate for ages 15 and up-and senior matinees are scheduled for Wednesdays, January 27 and February 3 at 10:30 a.m. and Ladies Night at the Playwrights Theatre will be held on Thursday, January 28 beginning at 5 p.m., with curtain at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, visit www.ptnj.org or call the box office at 973/514-1787 X10. Performances take place at Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road in Madison, NJ. This show is a calendar-changing event - don't miss it!