About the Play:

Bad Jews has become a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Female Scenes, Female/Male Scenes, and Male/Male Scenes.

Bad Jews is a full-length comedy by Joshua Harmon. In the play, a beloved Holocaust surviving grandfather has died and a treasured family heirloom with religious significance is up for grabs. But who is most deserving of it? Bossy, overbearing, fanatically religious Daphna? Her wealthy cousin Liam who's just returned from skiing with his non-Jewish girlfriend Melody? Or Jonah, his brother, who would prefer not to get involved in the fight?

Bad Jews is a fierce, biting comedy about a comedy about the holy and the holier-than-thou. Daphna Feygenbaum is a "Real Jew" – just ask the Israeli boyfriend she met on Birthright. The night after the funeral of their grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, three cousins engage in a verbal (and sometimes physical) battle. In one corner is Daphna, who is volatile, self-assured and unbending. In the other is her equally stubborn cousin Liam, a secular and entitled young man, who has his latest "shiska" girlfriend, Melody, in tow. Stuck in the middle is Liam's brother, Jonah, who tries to stay out of the fray. When Liam stakes claim to their grandfather's Chai necklace (a necklace with a charm of the Hebrew word for "life"), a vicious and hilarious brawl over family, faith and legacy ensues.

Bad Jews premiered in 2012 at the Roundabout's 62-seat Black Box Theatre (New York, Off-Broadway) where it played a sold-out, extended run before transferring to the adjacent Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). Since then it has become one of the most frequently produced plays in the world, enjoying regional premieres at professional theatres across the US, transferred to London's West End after sell-out runs at Theatre Royal Bath and the St. James Theatre. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and and has been mounted by colleges and community theatres.

Cast: 2 female, 2 male

What people say:

"Critic's Pick. There's nothing like a death in the family to bring out the worst in people. This unhappy truth is displayed with delectably savage humor in 'Bad Jews,' a zesty play by Joshua Harmon...[that is] The Best Comedy of The Season." — The New York Times

"Four stars. Watching Bad Jews,'you may change your mind about who the title refers to. But you'll also be consistently impressed by this fast and funny, pungent and poignant comedy by Joshua Harmon." — New York Daily News

"[In] Joshua Harmon's strikingly perceptive comedy with claws, Daphna is one of the most memorable characters to come down the pike in some time. Harmon's biting script, which unfolds in 100 minutes of real time...marks him as a new theatrical voice to be reckoned with." — Backstage

"Bad Jews is delicious, nasty fun... Equal parts brains and brawl, Joshua Harmon's play isn't a textbook comedy of hostility, but a smart, divisive conversation starter." — New York Post

"One of the funniest things on the New York stage right now... [Harmon] has given us a gleefully funny, thought-provoking evening." — Huffington Post

About the Playwright:

Joshua Harmon is an American poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. A graduate of Juilliard, his work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC), Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation.