Mad Shout Out to the NRTC

Ramah in Wisconsin does many amazing things, not the least of which consists of incubating cutting-edge experimental programming and nurturing them towards success. The two which get the most press in the world of camping and Jewish education (due, in no small part, to the appropriate self-promotion of their founders) are the Northwoods Ramah Theatre Company (NRTC) and the Northwoods Kollel [and Beit Midrash - which too often gets left off the title]. Other relevant ones include our מרכז הפדגוגי, founded almost thirty years ago, and the role of Paul Palnik, our full-time artist-in-residence for the last fifteen years. Hopefully, in the coming years, there will be many, many more, but that's a dream for a different post.

The NRTC, in residence at camp now for four summers (2009 will be the 5th), has had its ups (Underwater Palace; everything done in 2008) and downs (2007) but has remained remarkably true to the visions that founded it, held by Annie Levy and Jonathan Adam Ross (JAR), respectively. These visions have spoken to three crucial components of the NRTC: its material (unabashedly, complicatingly Jewish); its process (absolutely open and transparent); and its relationship with the camp in which it finds itself (as integrated as possible). Even if the NRTC never takes off outside of Ramah as Annie, JAR, (others involved,) and I hope it does, there is great opportunity for it to grow within the camp itself.

These past months, however, have indicated part of the NRTC's potential - to take its workshopped shows from camp to new audiences. In 2006 the company tackled (at camp director Rabbi David Soloff's suggestion) a reimagining of Bernard Malamud's short story "The Jewbird." This fall, the company staged a reading of the show in Chicago (at the home of camp great Michael Newberger and his phenomenal wife Charlotte) and, beginning last week (and running through this coming Sunday) opened an off-off-Broadway run in Manhattan.

The press had been pretty impressive - a story in stories in the Jewish Week and, theoretically, forthcoming in the Forward, and announcements in TimeOut, the Jewish Standard, and more.

This morning we hit the jackpot (well, at least the East Coast, MSM, intellectually snobbish jackpot). And, to respond to the inevitable criticism: When was the last time you read an article in the NY Times about a piece of culture that was created in a summer camp?

Hopefully, we can create a structure in which the NRTC lives (and thrives, expands, and is modeled again and again elsewhere) within a more comprehensive framework for all that Ramah Wisconsin does and can achieve. For the time being, I'll take a column-length story with a picture in the world's paper of record.

Below, Rabbi Soloff's message to Ramah families:

Shalom Ramah Families,

Ramah Wisconsin has mounted an off-off Broadway adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s story The Jewbird, running through March 22 at the Sanford Meisner Theater in New York. The show was first created by our professional theater company, the Northwoods Ramah Theater, during the 2006 camp season. The current production has merited a full column review (including a photo of Jon Adam Ross - head of our Performing Arts at camp and also known as “JAR”) in the March 18 “Arts” section of the New York Times. The review references Camp Ramah in Wisconsin as the home of the Northwoods Ramah Theater.

When the Northwoods Ramah Theater troupe is in residence at camp, campers and staff are engaged in the development of their performances. For example, for the Jewbird production, our audiences studied the texts prior to the performance (i.e. reading Malamud short stories and related classical Jewish sources) and had the opportunity for a post-performance discussion. This blending of drama and education work fabulously well in the camp setting. Camp Ramah in Wisconsin is an incubator for Jewish culture!

Our director, Annie Levy, initiated three creative interpretations for this work by the Northwoods Ramah Theater: 1) the production uses a puppet for the title role, “given an edgy voice and movement by Jon Adam Ross, clad like the unkempt bird all in black, including a soiled overcoat.” 2) It intertwines classical Jewish sources into the play and 3) it uses chorus-like narration reminiscent of stories in the Humash.

It is so exciting that through generous support for our arts program we are able to bring this production to New York and engage hundreds of alumni, high school and university students, educators, camp people and the general theater community with Malamud’s work. We are thrilled that the professional actors and director of the Northwoods Ramah Theater will be with us again this summer, sharing their talents and enthusiasm with our campers. Their enrichment of the camp program enhances the many gateways to Jewish culture open through our Ramah portal.

Rabbi David Soloff, Director