arts & culture
Theatre Ariel
Begins New Season
With Play About
Passover JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
T heatre Ariel opened its 32nd
season at Har Zion Temple in
Penn Valley on Oct. 22. Even
though it was a Saturday night when
the Philadelphia Phillies were playing
in the National League Championship
Series, more than 40 people showed up
for the show.

It was a nice turnout for the fi rst
performance of Jesse Bernstein’s tenure
as artistic director. Bernstein replaced
Deborah Baer Mozes, the Jewish the-
ater’s founding artistic director, aft er
she retired over the summer. And, like
usual, the actors stood on the stage,
read from their scripts and made the
play, “We All Fall Down” by Lila Rose
Kaplan, come to life without costumes,
music or special eff ects. It was just
their characters and words in a well-lit
room. Th eatre Ariel’s salon style is like the
theater version of an acoustic concert.

It strips away the bells and whistles so
the audience can focus on the essen-
tials: the characters, the themes and
the story. During its 2022-’23 season
premiere, the salon theater made yet
another story come to life.

But in laying this story bare, the
Main Line organization also showed
us how much better it could have been.

Th eatre Ariel’s 32nd season is about
legacy, as Bernstein discussed with the
Jewish Exponent in August.

“What do we inherit? What do we
leave behind?” explained an email
from the theater promoting the season.

“We All Fall Down” has a premise
that fi ts with this theme. A Jewish
family that has not done “anything
even remotely religious for decades,”
as a post on Th eatre Ariel’s website
explains, gets together for a Passover
seder. Founded in 1897
ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
OF AMERICA
JUSTICE LOUIS D. BRANDEIS
AWARD DINNER
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT
DONALD J. TRUMP
45 TH PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES
ZOA THEODOR HERZL
GOLD MEDALLION
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
2022 PIER SIXTY | CHELSEA PIERS | NEW YORK CITY
VIP Reception 4:30pm
Dinner 5:30pm
HON. KEVIN
MCCARTHY DR. MIRIAM AND
SHELDON G.

ADELSON DEFENDER
OF ISRAEL AWARD
Glatt Kosher food
Black tie optional
JOSEPH LUBECK, ESQ.

JUSTICE LOUIS D.

BRANDEIS AWARD
JASON GREENBLATT,
ESQ. DR. BOB SHILLMAN
OUTSTANDING DIPLOMACY AWARD
See Arts, Page 39
ALI MELI
STEVEN SASS
AWARD ISRAELI
GENERAL AMIR AVIVI
MYRON ZIMMERMAN
SECURITY OF ISRAEL
AWARD Photos by Aaron Oster
RSVP by November 4, 2022
The actors perform “We All Fall Down” at Theatre Ariel’s season opener at Har Zion
Temple in Penn Valley on Oct. 22.

Call 212.481.1500 x223
Email dinner@zoa.org
Visit zoa.org/gala
or Scan QR Code:
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 27