The world’s oldest Jewish play inspires a new, immersive production
By Chava Pearl Lansky May 3, 2024
"...This is the world premiere of Untitled Theater Company No. 61’s “Exagoge,” an opera within a play within a seder being staged this month at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, a 63-year-old downtown institution.
Written and directed by Edward Einhorn, with original music by Avner Finberg, the production’s source material is the world’s oldest known Jewish play: an ancient Greek drama, also called “Exagoge,” that was written in Alexandria more than 2,000 years ago by someone known now as Ezekiel the Tragedian.
The writer Howard Jacobson has theorized that the original “Exagoge” — an interpretation of the Book of Exodus mixed with pagan ideas — was written in the second century BCE but was destroyed shortly after its creation by the Jewish elders, on grounds of idolatry. Today, only 269 lines remain..."
Please join the University of Kentucky Jewish Studies Program for two upcoming lectures.
On Wednesday, April 3rd Dr. Raymond Deluca (University of Kentucky) will deliver the final lecture in the "Jewish Ukraine" series. Titled, "Dissent, Hybridity and Post-History in Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry and Film," the lecture will take place at 6 pm in the Alumni Gallery at WT Young Library and also on Zoom at the following link: https://uky.zoom.us/s/88929360927
On Tuesday, April 16th, Ranana Dine (University of Chicago) will give the Luckens lecture at 7 pm on her prize-winning essay. The Luckens Prize is given annually to acknowledge outstanding graduate student work in the field of Jewish Studies. Titled, "Capturing Corpses: The Advent of Photography and Jewish Death," Ms. Dine's lecture will take place on Zoom at the following link: