Theory from Theater - Season 4, Episode 2 with Jesse Freedman

On The Bimah: Spotlighting Jewish Theatre Artists

"Theory from Theater" (Season 4, Episode 2), the new episode of our season, dropped Monday, May 6. We called to the Bimah director, playwright, and performance artist Jesse Freedman (he/him).

Based in New York City, Jesse is the Artistic Director of Meta-Phys Ed., a multidisciplinary performance group that grapples with philosophical and political ideas through a Jewish lens. His genre-defying works often blend theater, dance, music, and absurdist humor to interrogate questions of morality, identity, and power.

We spoke with Jesse about his recent production "The Banality of Evil", which went up at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn last month. Inspired by the seminal writings of political theorist Hannah Arendt, the show uses neo-noir aesthetics and vaudevillian spectacle to wrestle with the disturbing implications of Arendt's coverage of the Eichmann trial. Jesse shared his process for physicalizing intellectual debates on stage, and how Jewish thought and performance traditions inform his approach to such challenging material.

As the founder of Meta-Phys Ed., Jesse also reflected on the company's evolution over the past decade, from its origins to its current explorations of secular Jewish identity through experimental performance. We discussed the unique possibilities of using theater as a form of philosophical inquiry.

Looking ahead, Jesse gave us a preview of Meta-Phys Ed.'s upcoming projects, including a new devised work that will use machine learning to generate a fragmented, dystopian take on Hamlet. He shared his hopes for inspiring more artists to engage with the spiritual and cultural dimensions of Jewishness in their practices.

"On the Bimah" continues to illuminate the heart, soul, and diversity of contemporary Jewish theatre, guided by your host Danielle Levsky.

This podcast is an Alliance for Jewish Theatre program, produced by Danny Debner and Danielle Levsky. Our theme music is by Ilya Levinson and Alex Koffman, and our logo is by Alize Francheska Rozsnyai.

CORRECTION: In this episode, we mistakenly referred to a specific project being inspired by the work of Tony Kushner. The correct attribution would be to Moises Kaufman. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused in your listening experience.