Thursday, May 20th, 2025 @ 6:30 pm ET

JPP Machers

Shannan Barr and David Richards

Elizabeth and Michael Hochberg

Nahum Kianovsky

Judith and Michael Kitt

Lisa and Paul Mandell

Sharon and Peter Schuur

Ronda Spinak

JPP Party Committee

Chair: Tina Ball
Committee Members: Judy Bowman, Wayne Firestone, Jacob Levy, Deb Radin, David Siegel

Artist Members: Jake Allen, Hershel Blatt, Stephanie Kane, Kyle Mazer, Illana Stein

Volunteers: Joey Ball, Emma Bailey, Stuart Green, Sophie Schulman, Marissa Shadburn, Lex Winitsky 

JPP Supporters

Elizabeth Samet and Zeke and Lex Winitsky
Barbara Shapiro
Jeffrey Shoulson
Dr. Roberta Sloan
Rabbi Joel Soffin
Joan Winitsky

PHOTOGRAPHY BY:

Basil Rodericks, Face It Foto

PLAYWRIGHT MOTTI LERNER

Motti Lerner: selected productions in Israel: “Kastner”, “Pangs of the Messiah”, “Paula”, “Pollard”, “Exile in Jerusalem”, “Passing The Love of Women”, “Doing his Will”, “The Abondoned Melody” , “The First Lady”  “Autumn”, “Hard Love” in Haifa Theatre, “The Hastening of The End” ,”The Admission” , “On the Edge”. His productions abroad include: “Kastner”, “Autumn”, “The Muder of Isaac” in Heilbronn Theater, Germany, “Exile in Jerusalem” in Stuttgart, Berlin and Vienna, “Hard Love” in New York, Rome and Berlin, “The Murder of Isaac” in Centerstage, Baltimore, “Passing the Love of Women” in Theater J, DC, “Pangs of the Messiah” in Theater J, Silk Road, Chicago, Theater of Ideas, NY, Alliance theater, Atlanta. “Benedictus” in Golden Thread Theatre, San Francisaco, and in Theater J, “Paulus” in Silk Road, Chicago, “The Admission” in Theater J, “After The War” in Mosaic Theater, DC. Eichmann’s Trial in The National Theatre in Bucharest.

PLAYWRIGHT JENNIFER MAISEL

Jennifer Maisel’s THE LAST SEDER premiered Off-Broadway after productions around the world.  Her Sundance-developed OUT OF ORBIT was awarded an Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P Sloan rewrite commission for plays about science and technology, made the 2016 Kilroy List and won the Stanley and the Woodward/Newman Awards before premiering at Williamston Theatre and Bloomington Playwrights Project.  Her PEN West Literary finalist THERE OR HERE had its London premiere in 2018.  @thespeedofJake, also a Pen West Literary finalist, premiered in LA with Playwrights’ Arena.  Jennifer has written movies for major networks and cable, as well as independent features and has sold original pilots.  Jennifer was one of five writers invited into the prestigious Humanitas 2018 PlayLA workshop where she developed BETTER. Her YELLOW WALLPAPER 2.0 2020 was part of the Lucille Lortel Alcove project and her EIGHT NIGHTS premiered at Antaeus Theatre, garnering the Ovation award for Best Playwriting.

PLAYWRIGHT ALI VITERBI 

Ali Viterbi is a playwright, television writer, and educator. Her play In Every Generation (the winner of JPP’s 2019 National Jewish Playwriting Contest) received its world premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in 2022 and its west coast premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in 2023. Ali’s work has been developed and/or commissioned by Geffen Playhouse, The Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Round House Theatre, National New Play Network, San Diego REP, Carthage College, HERE Arts Center, The Barrow Group, and North Coast Repertory Theatre, among others. Ali won the 2019 National Jewish

PLAYWRIGHT BECCA SCHLOSSBERG

Becca Schlossberg is a Jewish, award-winning, non-binary, plant daddy/writer/performer. They are best known for their play, Just Like I Wanted, a drama about teen suicide, which has been performed around the world. Their play, 3boys, is published by Original Works Publishing and received a 4-star review by Time Out magazine for its NYC Fringe production. Their most recent play, Discus, a modern re-telling of the Apollo & Hyacinth myth, received glowing reviews and has been selected by Drama Book Shop as a recommended work. Other plays include: Reasonable Adults, The Whipping Boy & The Prince, Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah, The Untold Yippie Project (published by Samuel French), Forever Friends (published by Playscripts Inc.), Hands, Punches, Golem & the Pathetic Girl, Unkempt, Cal & Grey, Guidance, All We Are, and Brightly Shone The Moon. Proud alum of Page 73’s Interstate Writer’s Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, and The Amoralists’ Wright Club.

DIRECTOR ILLANA STEIN

Illana Stein is a NYC-based theater director. Credits: Julius Caesar Tour (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), Director/Co-writer for Hans & Sophie (5 DFW-critic awards including Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Director, Amphibian Stage) Frequent Guest Director at NYU Tisch/Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Associate directing credits: Tamburlaine the Great (TFANA, Dir: Michael Boyd), Pericles (TFANA, Dir: Trevor Nunn), Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater, Dir: Bill Rauch). Assistant directing credits: Signature Theatre, Pearl Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, Hangar Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Drama League First Stage Residency Recipient, member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, League of Professional Theatre Women former board member, Director of Artistic Programs for Jewish Plays Project. (she/her) illanastein.com

FEATURING THESE AMAZING ARTISTS

CAST BIOS

ARI BRAND (Eitan in On The Edge, Frederich / Heinrich / Jonah in Provenance, & Cantor in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah):

Ari is an actor, musician and playwright. Select NYC theater: Prayer for the French Republic, My Name Is Asher Lev, Scenes From Childhood (playwright), among many others off-broadway and regionally. Select TV: Fosse/Verdon; SVU; Maisel; The Other Two. Upcoming film: Striya and Beautiful and Neat Room. B.A. Wesleyan; BADA; LABA Fellow.

RONALD GUTTMAN (Tuvia in On The Edge & Leon in Provenance):

Ronald Guttman’s decades-long career spans film, television, and theater. Recently, he was Professor Perelman in PATRIOTS at London’s Almeida Theatre, which transferred to the West End and Broadway. He has appeared with actors such as Annette Bening, Felicity Jones, Kate Winslet, Jon Hamm, Alan Cumming, and Forest Whitaker in both major studio and independent productions.

RORY KULZ (Stage Directions in On The Edge & Jacob in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah):

RORY KULZ is an actor, improviser, writer. NY: Travels With My Aunt (Keen), The Mysteries (Flea), Empire Travel Agency (Woodshed Collective), In Quietness (dir. Danya Taymor). Regional: A Comedy of Manors (Adirondack Theatre Festival), North of Forbes (Pittsburgh Public). Film: The Assistant, The 3_2 Pulldown. BA Harvard, MFA LAMDA. rorykulz.com

HELEN LASER (Beatrice / Amelia in Provenance & Jamie in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah): 

Helen Laser is a New York City-based actor and artist. She has appeared onstage (Powerhouse Theater, Sharon Playhouse, Playhouse On Park, etc) on TV (HBO, CBS, etc) and in award-winning films that have graced the festival circuit. She’s a decorated audiobook narrator, with over 100 titles on Audible and counting. HelenLaser.com

ANNIE MEISELS (Rivka in On The Edge, Anna / Eloise / Miranda / Yvette / Anna in the Long Grass in Provenance, & Stage Directions in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah):

Annie is so happy to be working with JPP again! Annie has performed on stage in NYC, as well as around the country. One favorite happened just last summer – performing in Cape Cod’s Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in ‘Summer 1976’. You’ve seen her on TV, on commercials, and she has done tons of voice overs. Annie lives in NYC with her son, Jesse.

ALI STONER (Stage Directions in Provenance & Rachel in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah):   

Ali Stoner has collaborated on productions/workshops at The American Repertory Theater, The Moscow Art Theater, Williamstown, EST, and others. Catch her this fall on the upcoming Netflix series Black Rabbit starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman. @ali.stonerrr. www.ali-stoner.com

ZO TIPP (Smithy in Dybbuk Bat Mitzvah): 

ZO TIPP (they/them) is a Jewish Japanese American actor. TV: Only Murders in the Building, American Horror Story, Dickinson. Theater: INTAR, Playwrights Horizons, Pan Asian Rep, Cherry Lane, CSC/OSF Play On!, Red Bull, Rattlestick, Breaking the Binary. Workshops: Roundabout, NYTW, Playwrights Realm, Pride Plays… Indie film appearances at Newfest, Outfest. www.zotipp.com

PRODUCTION TEAM BIOS

JESSICA DELL BENI (Stage Manager):

Jessica Dell Beni (she/her) is a stage manager based in New Jersey. Credits include: APEX Festival 2024 & 2025 (The New School), the INKubator New Play Festival 2022 – 2024 (Art House Productions), Meet You Downstairs (New York Theater Festival),  Joy: A New Musical (George Street Playhouse), Complicity (Eden Theater Company), KIN (WP Theater), A Number/The Seventeenth Chapel (The Drama League), and Mary Stuart (The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute). Jessica has also worked with Production Glue and Superfly as a PA on various NYC-based events. She holds a BFA from Rutgers University – Mason Gross School of the Arts.

LENNOX EMERY (Lighting Designer):

Lennox Emery is a New York based Lighting Designer, Electrician, and Stage Manager. They received their BFA in Technical Theatre & Stage Management from Stephens College Conservatory of Performing Arts in Columbia, MO. Lennox spent last summer at the Okoboji Summer Theatre as the Lighting Supervisor as well as a designer. Prior to that, they spent a year with Virgin Voyages as their Happenings Manager before moving to New York. Their recent designs include Minutemen at The Tank and Charlotte’s Letters & Salt in a Wound at Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

HEATHER HELINSKY (Literary Manager):

Heather Helinsky is a dramaturg that playwrights have recognized as “especially adept at freeing energies in unexpected ways. She encourages discovery.” She is based in Philadelphia and the Literary Manager for Playwrights Foundation/Bay Area Playwrights Festival. She now has fifteen years of experience as a professional dramaturg, specifically in the area of new play development and focused on advocating for women playwrights and writers of color.

ILLANA STEIN (Director):

Illana Stein is a NYC-based theater director. Credits: Julius Caesar Tour (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), Director/Co-writer for Hans & Sophie (5 DFW-critic awards including Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Director, Amphibian Stage) Frequent Guest Director at NYU Tisch/Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Associate directing credits: Tamburlaine the Great (TFANA, Dir: Michael Boyd), Pericles (TFANA, Dir: Trevor Nunn), Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater, Dir: Bill Rauch). Assistant directing credits: Signature Theatre, Pearl Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, Hangar Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Drama League First Stage Residency Recipient, member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, League of Professional Theatre Women former board member, Director of Artistic Programs for Jewish Plays Project. (she/her) illanastein.com