L IFESTYLES /C ULTURE
‘Click’ Explores Collision of Tech, Identity
T H EATER
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
JACQUELINE GOLDFINGER’S
Click, a new play about a cam-
pus rape, technology and what
can happen to people caught
in between the two, makes its
debut next week.

Th e play, a production of
the Simpatico Th eatre, will run
at Th e Louis Bluver Th eatre
at Th e Drake. It is being
staged in conjunction with the
University of the Arts as part of
Simpatico’s “Season of System
Failures,” and will run from
March 27 to April 14.

Click, which is in the sci-fi
tradition, is part feminist and
part “Sherlockian,” according
to the play’s description.

“Click is a very unique play,
which is one of the reasons I’m so
excited about it,” Goldfi nger said.

Goldfi nger, who teaches
playwriting at the University
of Pennsylvania and Temple
University, said her plays
oft en take about two years to
go from conception to stage;
Click, which is based on the
Steubenville High School rape
case of 2012, took nearly fi ve
years to complete.

Part of the reason for that,
she said, was her desire to write
a wider variety of characters
than she usually did. She wrote
characters of various races,
classes, industries and gender
identities, a task for which she
consulted numerous readers.

“I wanted to make sure that
I got all of those voices right,”
she said.

Another reason the show
took so long was her desire
to tell the story in such a way
that it was not a one-to-one
recapitulation of the details
of Steubenville. To do that,
some distance from the events
was needed. Goldfi nger knew
that most audiences were now
familiar with how such cases
were covered in the moment.

Th us, she decided to set her
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM The cast of Click
play in the years succeeding
the rape, breaking the play into
sections fi ve, 10, 15 and 20
years in the future.

Beyond fi delity to reality,
Goldfi nger said, she wanted to
deliberately counteract what
she sees as the dehumanizing
process that people involved
in such episodes are oft en sub-
ject to. People become “fl ashes
on a news screen, or tweets,”
she said, cheap imitations of
the full-fl edged humans they
actually are.

“We wanted to make sure
that, in our piece, we saw the
humanity of everyone and
honor that,” she said, “while
also asking important ques-
tions: When you can change
your identity online? What
consequences are there? Should
there be consequences? What’s
going to happen when you’re
going to be able to change your
identity in person?”
Another choice Goldfi nger
made was to keep the character
of the rapist from appearing
onstage. She’s been dismayed
Photo courtesy of Simpatico Theatre
NAME: JFCS /JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’; WIDTH: 5.5 IN; DEPTH: 5.5 IN;
COLOR: BLACK PLUS ONE; AD NUMBER: 00083614
JFCS 35TH
ANNUAL BENEFIT
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Join Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia for
an evening of cocktails, great food, and celebration as we remember:
through care and compassion…Anything is Possible!
WHEN: Thursday, April 4 at 6pm
WHERE: Vie by Cescaphe
COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Amy and Randy Stein, Isa and Mitchell Welsch
FOR MORE INFO: Visit jfcsphilly.org/benefit or call 267.256.2018
Special Performance by
Jon Dorenbos
Magician and Former
Philadelphia Eagle
JFCS partners with The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
See Click, Page 20
JEWISH EXPONENT
MARCH 21, 2019
19