The God Box: Revelation and Closure

The God Box
Written and performed by Antonia Lassar
Directed by Christine Hamel
The Second Annual Next Rep Festival Celebrating Women Theatremakers
Black Box Theater at The Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
April 9-19, 2015

One aspect of being a fervent believer in any religion is thinking that your path has an edge on all the others. The God Box explores what happens when that aspect is challenged.

To become captivated by a story, especially one rich with imagery, imagination, humor and a dollop of heartbreak, is in our DNA. The God Box, presented by the New Rep’s Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, has all of that and then some.

This is theater at its most compelling. Ingredients: a small stage, simple lighting, audience close to the action, and a spare set in which every element in the narrative is eventually connected.  Oh, and one actor telling a story with relish as if you were the only person sitting at her kitchen table.

Any story that makes you think about religion without taking sides or getting into a shouting match is so welcome…and so rare. Playwright and actor Antonia Lassar mines her experience of growing up then questions her own Jewish identity. The result is a one-hour piece of theater that provokes and satisfies.

Gloria Andelman (Antonia Lassar) is in her young daughter Rebecca’s apartment going through her possessions, now her effects, since she was just killed in an auto accident. Gloria is singularly and proudly Jewish. As she makes abundantly clear, Judaism may not be the only religion but it’s certainly a notch above all the others. It feels like catechism with a hint of condescension when Gloria explains what it means to sit shiva to all the goyim (non-Jews) in the audience.

Gloria has just discovered a box that her daughter labeled The God Box.

One of the first items in the box is a book - a traditional folktale about Schlemiel from Chelm, which Gloria pronounces with a phlegm inducing “Chhh” and asks us to try saying it. The story about a mythical village populated, according to Jewish folklore, by fools, It was one of Rebecca’s favorite stories, Gloria tells it with gusto by heart. The lesson of the story is a clever scaffold that holds the rest of the play in place

The rest of the contents of the God Box shake Gloria’s self-satisfied attitude that her chicken-soup nurturing had prepared Rebecca for a life that embraced Judaism. Who knows,  maybe she would have even married a doctor.

Lassar’s Gloria starts as a stereotype and grows into a prototype. Gloria Andelman has it all going on – the Jewish mother thing, the mannerisms, inflections, roll of the eyes, knowing nods, timing, a Brooklyn-ese accent, intuitive sense of where to lean in and where to step back. She mesmerizes us with her warmth and storytelling bravura.

The items in the God Box show that Rebecca became a seeker who investigated every imaginable path from wacky cults to mainstream religions as a path to God. As she pulls books, letters, and icons from the box, Gloria considers each with humorous objectivity, as if dismissing items in Ripley’s Believe It or Not exhibit.

To get insight into what her daughter was seeking, she decides to meet some of the people from the groups that Rebecca temporarily joined as she explored other paths to God.  These include a priest, a Buddhist monk, and several cult leaders (including a couple of doozies). The cults are unconventional to say the least (they involve reptiles or the worship of a certain part of a woman’s anatomy). Nevertheless, the outlier cults believe in a divine spirit, and welcome new converts without proselytizing or demanding oaths of allegiance. Judgmental but curious,  Gloria brings her signature cheesecakes when she visits as an offering. In her mind, food is a universal bridge to reach common ground.

The religion and background of the man to whom Rebecca had become engaged are as antithetic to Judaism as one can envision. Gloria's conversation with him is a revelation and harks back to the lesson in the "Schlemiel from Chelm" story.

Embracing an investigative spirit that her daughter would have loved, Gloria Andelman realizes the common bonds between religious beliefs and aspirations. Antonia Lassar’s God Box gives us the gift of a marvelously told story layered with the satisfying density and flavors of an heirloom recipe cheesecake.

Comments

[Melanie W]

This play sounds so interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

[Lynn Dowall]

Paul, this is you writing at your best. Thank you!

[Antonia Lassar]

Hi Paul!

Thank you so much for sending this my way! I apologize for not getting back to you sooner! I love this review, and I think you have some great insights into the play. It's always interesting to see what viewers pick up on, and how much of it I had originally intended.

I am so glad you could make it to the show, and I hope to invite you to more shows in the future! In fact, would you mind if I put you in my email list?

All the best,
Antonia

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.]

On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 12:49 PM, Paul Tamburello wrote:

Hey Antonia,
Thanks for the feedback, late better than never! Bloggers and actors love feedback, especially when it affirms that a playgoer or reader "got" what you intended and sometimes surprised by what the playgoer/reader "got" when was different than what we intended. (any of that in my review?)

Certainly, put me on your mailing list. Add a link to my review if you wish.
http://ptatlarge.typepad.com/ptatlarge/2015/04/the-god-box-revelation-and-closure.html

I look forward to your next creation!
Paul

[Antonia Lassar]

June 23, 2015
Great Paul! And yes, I do think you "got" my play. I was so glad to see that you saw how Gloria becomes a more fleshed out person as the play progresses. Sometime audiences stop at the first glance stereotype, and aren't interested in how she changes. So, that was great to read!

And thank you for the link! You are on my mailing list, so I will keep you updated about my future work!

Love, Antonia

[Antonia Lassar]

July 20, 2015
Hello dearest email list!

It's that time again! Update time! As always, if you don't want to be on this email list, just sent me a furious, expletive filled email. Really let me have it. (Some of you are on this email just because I thought you might like it. You can tell me if you disagree.)

If you do want to be on this list, howdy! Man oh Manischewitz, have I got some updates for you!

1. Post Traumatic Super Delightful is going on tour! We will be hitting the Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis (July 30-August 7), the Edmonton Fringe (August 14-22), and The Rushing River Retreat in Idanha, Oregon (August 28-29)!

Even though I'm incredibly pretty and charming, I don't know a lot of people in these cities, specifically Minneapolis. If you know people who would be interested in seeing a funny, moving, and unique play about the sexual assault crisis on college campuses, send them my way. Your friends probably want a blurb (such divas), so here is something to send about the show:

"Post Traumatic Super Delightful is a one-woman/half-clown/half-monologue/all-feminist critique of the sexual assault crisis on college campuses. The play weaves the lives of survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders into the story of a community struggling to heal after assault. Through clowning, the show surpasses the victim/villain dichotomy and welcomes an open-hearted conversation about healing.

Post Traumatic Super Delightful made its world premier to sold-out houses at the FRIGID New York Festival, winning “Best Political Play.” Since then, the play and creative team have received national attention, being featured on autostraddle.com and working with Glamour Magazine to mentor winners of their Top Ten College Women Competition. After the Minnesota Fringe, the play will continue on to the Edmonton International Fringe and subsequently tour colleges across the country.

For show times and locations, look at their website: PTSDtheplay.com"

Whew. Isn't that well written? Thank you. It is.

2. If you are in New York, I am having a going away party before the tour! When is it? TODAY. SERIOUSLY. My (lovely, adorable, constantly hungry) boyfriend Artem is taking a show as well called Growing Into My Beard, so we are having a duo-party. We will both be performing excerpts from our shows, so this is a good time to catch PTSD if you missed it before! There will also be dancing, a raffle, face painting, balloon art, and feminist themed cocktails. (Yes. Face painting. I'm not kidding, and it will be incredible.)

The deets:
Monday July 20th (THAT IS TODAY)
Bushwick Abbey, 176 St Nicholas St., Bushwick
Doors at 7pm, performances at 8
Performances, raffle, drinks, dj, face painting
Suggested donation $10
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1156305857718553/

3. WE HAVE A DONATE BUTTON!!! For all you people with oodles of cash to blow, now you can blow it on a fun, feminist cause!!!! If you look on our website (PTSDtheplay.com) you will see a shiny black button that says "Donate Now At Fractured Atlas". And best of all, your donation is tax exempt! That's right. We are fiscally sponsored, and now your wildest dreams have come true.

Where will this money go? I will tell you! It will go to the costs of touring (gas, plane tickets, food, emergency chocolate). It will go to outreach for the show (posters, postcards, website upkeep, graphic design). It will go to compensating me and my team members fairly for our time. And it will go to subsidizing shows at venues that cannot afford our fee, like crisis centers and community centers.

We are not in the middle of a formal fundraising campaign, but I wanted to let you know this option exists. In case you need to feel extra mensch-y some time.

4. You can get on the PTSD email list! If you'd like to hear tour-specific updates, then sign up. This is basically another way for my mom to know that I'm still alive.
Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1q22XAndVinl4vGpz9Xts-cevrMufIO16w0Pa1e1coSQ/viewform

5. I should tell you what I've been doing recently! Besides perfecting my interpretation of Beyoncé's Single Ladies dance, I've been busy.
- I was on a panel of mentors for Glamour Magazine's Top Ten College Women Program
- I performed PTSD in Houston, TX
- I performed God Box to sold out houses at the New Repertory Theater in Boston!
- I performed God Box for the 3rd time at the BU Summer Theater Institute
- I created a new clown piece about consent called "What A Touching Play" to perform at the New York Transit Museum
- I ran the sound board for Artem's new Bushwick open mic called "The Warm Up"
- I perfected my impression of an electric toothbrush

6. If you or someone you know is interested in booking Post Traumatic Super Delightful for a school or university near you, let me know. We are actively booking our fall tour of schools!

And so ends another incredible, jaw dropping, delicious email update! As always, email me with any feelings or angry tirades you may have! It is lovely to know that I'm emailing such a nice group of people. Thank you all for being my friends.

Lots of love,
Antonia

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large]

Apr 17, 2015 at 12:31 PM, Paul Tamburello wrote:

Hi Antonia,
I enjoyed chatting with you after last Saturday's matinée. Here's a copy of a review i posted on my blog today. Finding a way to illuminate the play's message was a challenge. I certainly wanted to encourage readers to see the play. Feedback of any kind always welcome!
Paul