Growing up, we each thought we were the only Asian Jew in the world. As Los Angeles community leaders for the LUNAR Collective, a national organization by and for Asian Jews, we have encountered others who grew up with the exact same thought. Since joining we have connected with more Asian American Jews than we ever imagined existed. And we are excited to share their stories with the world.
On May 15, in honour of both Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, Braid, a storytelling theatre company, will offer the world premiere of What Do I Do with All This Heritage? a show about the lives of Asian American Jews. It will be directed by Susan Morgenstern, the Braid’s longtime producing director, with both of us serving on the producing team. Also on the producing team are the Braid’s founder and artistic director Ronda Spinak, and the LUNAR Collective’s two co-executive directors, Maryam Chishti and Jenni Rudolph.
The show will be done in the style of Salon theatre, an artform the Braid has utilized for 16 years to dramatize true stories reflecting the contemporary Jewish experience. A dozen or so autobiographical stories connected by a common theme are selected by the show’s producers and “braided” together into an hour-long theatrical experience, in which a cast of four to five actors perform them either as monologues or short, multi-person scenes—eschewing sets, props, and costumes in favour of letting the words themselves paint a picture in the audience’s mind. The stories are curated from writer workshops, community submissions, and interviews conducted by the producing team whose transcripts are adapted into stories.
The show will be performed in person at venues in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, with more cities pending, as well as live on Zoom for a worldwide audience. Salon theatre especially adapts itself well to Zoom as a live performance medium. To our knowledge, this is the first-ever theatre show to explore the lives of Asian American Jews.
What Do I Do with All This Heritage? offers stories that range from hilarious to heartbreaking as audiences journey into the lives of Asian Jews revealing their true stories of struggle and perseverance in trying to hold two age-old traditions in their hearts. A cast of professional actors bring to life funny stories of food, heartbreaking stories of isolation, and triumphant stories of understanding that “all this heritage” doesn’t dilute one’s Asian or Jewish identities but strengthens both. These autobiographical stories explore the struggles of patrilineal Asian Jews’ search for acceptance, adoptees finding their authentic selves, how mixed-race and interfaith Jews balance honouring their different traditions, and how Jews by choice explain their spiritual journey to the people around them. It even explores what happens when someone from a historically Jewish community in Asia comes to America and suddenly finds themselves an outsider in their own communities.
These true stories were gathered from a development process generously supported by the Jews of Color Initiative that included a series of story-writing workshops held around the country to train professionals and non-professionals to create material in the Braid’s unique, Salon-style of theatre.
The Braid’s goal is always to democratize storytelling. We wanted Asian Jews of every age, stage, and walk of life to share their stories so audiences can get a fuller sense of what it means to be an Asian American Jew.
The team has worked to ensure a range of Asian ethnic backgrounds are represented, including Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and more.
“For a decade and a half, I’ve had the joy of showing the diversity of the Jewish people,” Spinak said with pride. “We’ve created groundbreaking shows featuring the true stories of Jews of Colour, Latin Jews, Queer Jews, Persian Jews, Jews of the American South, women rabbis, Israelis in America, and so many more. People sometimes say to me, ‘Wait, there are Asian Jews?’ This show is my answer: ‘Yes, and they have amazing stories to tell, which all of us will relate to, no matter what your heritage may be. We’re all trying to integrate the different sides of ourselves.’”
To learn more and get tickets, visit the-braid.org/heritage.
Growing up, we each thought we were the only Asian Jew in the world. As Los Angeles community leaders for the LUNAR Collective, a national organization by and for Asian Jews, we have encountered others who grew up with the exact same thought. Since joining we have connected with more Asian American Jews than we ever imagined existed. And we are excited to share their stories with the world.
On May 15, in honour of both Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, Braid, a storytelling theatre company, will offer the world premiere of What Do I Do with All This Heritage? a show about the lives of Asian American Jews. It will be directed by Susan Morgenstern, the Braid’s longtime producing director, with both of us serving on the producing team. Also on the producing team are the Braid’s founder and artistic director Ronda Spinak, and the LUNAR Collective’s two co-executive directors, Maryam Chishti and Jenni Rudolph.
The show will be done in the style of Salon theatre, an artform the Braid has utilized for 16 years to dramatize true stories reflecting the contemporary Jewish experience. A dozen or so autobiographical stories connected by a common theme are selected by the show’s producers and “braided” together into an hour-long theatrical experience, in which a cast of four to five actors perform them either as monologues or short, multi-person scenes—eschewing sets, props, and costumes in favour of letting the words themselves paint a picture in the audience’s mind. The stories are curated from writer workshops, community submissions, and interviews conducted by the producing team whose transcripts are adapted into stories.
The show will be performed in person at venues in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, with more cities pending, as well as live on Zoom for a worldwide audience. Salon theatre especially adapts itself well to Zoom as a live performance medium. To our knowledge, this is the first-ever theatre show to explore the lives of Asian American Jews.
What Do I Do with All This Heritage? offers stories that range from hilarious to heartbreaking as audiences journey into the lives of Asian Jews revealing their true stories of struggle and perseverance in trying to hold two age-old traditions in their hearts. A cast of professional actors bring to life funny stories of food, heartbreaking stories of isolation, and triumphant stories of understanding that “all this heritage” doesn’t dilute one’s Asian or Jewish identities but strengthens both. These autobiographical stories explore the struggles of patrilineal Asian Jews’ search for acceptance, adoptees finding their authentic selves, how mixed-race and interfaith Jews balance honouring their different traditions, and how Jews by choice explain their spiritual journey to the people around them. It even explores what happens when someone from a historically Jewish community in Asia comes to America and suddenly finds themselves an outsider in their own communities.
These true stories were gathered from a development process generously supported by the Jews of Color Initiative that included a series of story-writing workshops held around the country to train professionals and non-professionals to create material in the Braid’s unique, Salon-style of theatre.
The Braid’s goal is always to democratize storytelling. We wanted Asian Jews of every age, stage, and walk of life to share their stories so audiences can get a fuller sense of what it means to be an Asian American Jew.
The team has worked to ensure a range of Asian ethnic backgrounds are represented, including Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and more.
“For a decade and a half, I’ve had the joy of showing the diversity of the Jewish people,” Spinak said with pride. “We’ve created groundbreaking shows featuring the true stories of Jews of Colour, Latin Jews, Queer Jews, Persian Jews, Jews of the American South, women rabbis, Israelis in America, and so many more. People sometimes say to me, ‘Wait, there are Asian Jews?’ This show is my answer: ‘Yes, and they have amazing stories to tell, which all of us will relate to, no matter what your heritage may be. We’re all trying to integrate the different sides of ourselves.’”
To learn more and get tickets, visit the-braid.org/heritage.