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‘Dispossessed’ at Essential Theatre

2016 August 8
Scott Rousseau, Amelia Fischer, Jake Krakovsky, Kathleen McManus

Scott Rousseau, Amelia Fischer, Jake Krakovsky, Kathleen McManus. Photo: Stungun Photography

“Dispossessed,”  now playing at Essential Theatre, is an example of some of the smartest, most original playwriting now being shown on the Atlanta stage. Influenced by but totally different from Russian playwright S. Ansky’s play “The Dybbuk,” “Dispossessed” should be on the top of your list of shows to see.

A play within in a play, “Dispossessed” takes place in 1928 and revolves around a Yiddish Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in rehearsal for a show about a Dybbuk, the soul of a dead man who has entered the woman he loved. The theater company’s new leading handsome actor, Natan (Jake Krakovsky), is a philanderer who charms the leading actress, Rivka (Amelia Fischer), her father and owner of the theater company, Chaim (Scott Rousseau), and her mother, Chavelle (Kathleen McManus). Meanwhile, Natan schemes to marry Rivka so her parents can retire and he can become the theater’s new owner and operator.

In a small tightly knit community, Rivka is a nonconformist determined to make her own path in the world. With this fresh, inventive well-written play, Karen Wurl appears to be doing the same. She is currently working on another play, which is about a woman who shoots her rock star husband and is narrated by one of the woman’s cats.

Written by Karen Wurl, co-winner of the 2016 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, directed by Peter Hardy, “Dispossessed” runs through August 28 at the 2016 Essential Theatre Play Festival at the West End Performing Arts Center.

Cast:

Leah . . . . . . . . . . Alyssa Caputo
Dov . . . . . . . . . . Mark Gowan
Zalman . . . . . . . . . .Tyler Hayes
Izzy . . . . . . . . . . Chris Schulz
Tsilah . . . . . . . . . . Christie Vozniak

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