The Braid/Jewish Women’s Theatre moves hearts and challenges minds with mostly true contemporary stories performed on stage. Since 2008, this nonprofit organization has been recognized for its unique theatrical art form, “Salon Theatre,” that sits at the intersection of theatre and storytelling. These stories are pulled from our vast collection of over 60 original “Salon Theatre” shows spotlighting diverse Jewish experiences in America today. Written by professional and lay writers ages 13-98, and performed by professional actors, these inspiring Jewish stories deliver heart, humor, chutzpah and leave you laughing or crying, or both, while celebrating the truths that connect us all.
The first series, "Doing What’s Right," features stories that explore the line between doing what is right and doing what is desired. The second series, "Who Are We Really?" features stories that explore identity and the depths of love. The third and newest series, "Forgiveness, Redemption and What it Means to be Jewish" follows the stories of several people as they journey through their lives on their way to find out what it means to be Jewish.
Produced by The Braid / Jewish Women's Theatre
USA, 2016-Present
Esther Amini tells a poignant story from her memoir, Concealed, of her family of Persian Jews, who having fled the religious zealotry of Iran are looking forward to celebrating their first shabbat at an American synagogue in Manhattan. Dressed in their Sabbath finery, they approach the sanctuary...
This true, candid, and uproarious story by author and comedian Judy Carter takes us along on her precarious quest to find love as a 66-year-old lesbian. While her family has long accepted her sexual identity, she wonders whether they will be prepared for the shock of her decision to have a relati...
Separated in isolation due to COVID-19, Jenn yearns to spend time with her deteriorating father in a nursing facility. She misses hugging him and bringing him matzo ball soup and chocolate milkshakes, comfort foods that keep them connected. While sadness permeates her days, she is grateful for...
Struggling with the aftermath of his mother’s death, a man takes his children to a local street fair, where they all fall in love with a Golden mix whom they adopt and name Gabby. As Gabby the dog becomes a family member, sometimes irritating and often hilarious, Robin learns a valuable lesson ab...
Ronda Spinak, The Braid/Jewish Women’s Theatre’s co-founder and artistic director, takes us on a deeply personal tour of her childhood, filled with relatives who cared for her while she was growing up. As a teenager, when she finds her Uncle Jack to be an embarrassment, she realizes he is unlike...
Decades after graduating college, a middle-aged man, David Masello, essayist and editor, reunites with his roommate’s—and sometimes his—love interest. Over dinner, he and she reminisce about the good old days and the secrets of their unusual love triangle. He recalls his mother’s relationship a...
A young woman rents an apartment above a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor. She is soon invited to dinner and the unlikely pair become fast friends, even as the younger woman wonders if spending so much time with her new best buddy might be thwarting her plunge into the dating pool. Will she find ...
At the age of four, Susan’s eight-year-old sister, Jeanne, suddenly dies from a fall on ice, and her family casts off all connections to Judaism. Her parents “couldn’t live with a God who took their beloved firstborn daughter.” Diane, a new sister, is born 14 months after the tragedy, but their r...
A 90-year-old tenant in a rent-controlled apartment building becomes an activist when the new manager of her building removes the chairs in the lobby, critically necessary for the many elderly residents who cannot stand while waiting for rides. When she confronts the manager, he tells her there ...
