Schmuck, a Yiddish word, has a range of meaning depending on context. In its most innocuous use, a schmuck is a person who does a stupid thing, in which case "dumb schmuck" means really, really stupid and is the appropriate expression. Some say that Schmuck is the Yiddish word for penis. We say that Schmuck is the appropriate term for anyone who actually sits through the 75 or so minutes of CIRCUMCISE ME, written and performed by Yisrael Campbell. But maybe we have to retract that - or else we are calling oursleves schmucks! We just want to save you from the same fate...
As you know by now, we see a great deal of theatre and try to write as much about the experience as we do about the show, performance, etc. and we can say without equivocation that this is the worst thing we have even seen together, worse even than the awful production of DUST that we saw two years ago. At least DUST had Richard Masur and Hunter Foster in the cast.
We have yet to figure out how or why Mr. Campbell, a convert to Orthodox Judaism from Catholicism, has his own show, albeit in an empty (except for the 23 other schmucks who also sat through this) Greenwich Village theatre, shared with a meditation studio. As a matter of fact we were asked when we walked in whteher we were there to mediatte or see the show...we should have tried the meditation!
Mr. Campbell, whose given name was Chris before he changed it to Yisrael at the time he converted, talks about everything related to his conversion, including his three circumcisions (not going to go any further on that) and making Aliyah (he currently lives in Jerusalem). Suffice it to say there is nothing terribly interesting about Mr. Campbell’s life or his conversion. The only remotely interesting parts of this diatribe are when he speaks and shows photos of friends who were killed in Israel.
Mr. Campbell is neither interesting nor a very good speaker and his story is less than noteworthy. We have yet to figure out why anyone would have invested any money at all in this project. Be smart and take a pass on CIRCUMCISE ME.
NEXT UP: MR & MRS FITCH
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Don't be a putz. Putz is a Yiddish word that refers to the male member, or alternatively, to an idiot. OR, to someone who can't manage to understand and appreciate the hilarious, witty, and poignant show that Yisrael Campbell has written and performed. Examples of people who are NOT putzes, are those who reviewed his show for the New York Times, the New York Post, the New Yorker, and all of the Jewish presses. Other people who are not putzes are the over 10,000 people who have seen and enjoyed Mr. Campbell's show over the past six months. There. Now you know two Yiddish words.
ReplyDeleteCathy and Jeffrey,
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you. I went to Cambell's show and thought it was AWESOME. It's funny, touching, clever, well done, and completely enjoyable. I highly recommend this show to others.