The timeless story of star-crossed lovers is one that dates back to the beginning of love stories. Romeo falls for the beautiful Juliet only to realize that she is the daughter of his sworn enemy, and, alas, their love is doomed before it has begun.
And while swordfights, iambic pentameter, and apothecaries may be a little 16th century, the challenge of not only meeting someone and falling madly in love, but of meeting someone, falling madly in love, and having your mother approve, is as relevant now as it was in the Globe Theater.
Playwright James Sherman's "Beau Jest," which will be presented tonight by the Hillel Theater Troupe, has taken this age-old theme and given it a few modern, as well as comedic, twists.
Sara, a nice Jewish girl from a nice Jewish family, is expected to marry a nice Jewish boy from a similarly nice Jewish family. However, very much to her mother's chagrin, Sara has fallen for a gentile executive, Chris Kringle (contrary to popular belief, Kringle is not a Jewish name).
Instead of feigning death and tragically losing the love of her life, our Jewish Juliet takes a less dated approach and decides to appease her folks by hiring an escort to pretend to be her Jewish boyfriend, Dr. David Steinberg. As it turns out, Sara's hired escort, Bob Schroeder, isn't Jewish either and is faced with the task of fooling Sara's mother who is, according to Sara, equipped with an especially keen "Jew-dar."
Of course, nothing goes quite as planned, and we are left with not only a non-Jewish boyfriend, but also a love triangle and some serious explaining to do after Sara ends up falling for her own hoax.
Theater Troupe, a student run theater group that is headed under the cultural division of the Hillel Executive Board, has always chosen plays "with some sort of Jewish theme," according to this year's Theater Troupe Chairperson, sophomore Tamara Savin. This year's organizers, Savin and Hillel Cultural Vice President, senior Laura Israel, wanted to produce a light hearted comedy, as the group's last play was a drama focusing on the Holocaust.
The group has hosted several small scale events throughout the semester, including a "Fiddler on the Roof" sing-along, but has been unable to stage a full scale production in the past two years due to lack of a Theater Troupe Chairperson on last year's Hillel Board. Savin and Israel collaborated this year to create an amusing and relevant production that reached beyond the Jewish community at Tufts.
The script's clever and contemporary dialogue does rely on a Jewish theme, though cast and crew members contend that all audience members, regardless of religious or ethnic background, will be able to relate to and enjoy "Beau Jest."
The intercultural and intergenerational themes playfully presented by "Beau Jest" reach beyond an obvious Jewish audience and create a farcical element reminiscent of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," a situation "any culture can relate to," according to Savin.
Whether it's an issue of challah or baklava, interfaith dating is an ever present issue as younger generations struggle to balance tradition and cultural innovation. "It's definitely something to think about," said sophomore Annaleah Logan, who plays Sara, "especially if you have a Jewish background." Logan, one of the play's three Jewish cast members, pointed to the ever-present challenge of meeting the expectations of overbearing parents, in any culture.
If only Juliet had known to hire a stand in, then maybe she would have avoided the whole poison and happy dagger mess. They could have all sat down and enjoyed some Manischewitz and some of Bubbe Capulet's secret recipe kugel.
