Tomorrow, Christmas, I’ll be traveling first to NYC and then to Upstate NY for Klez Kamp, a Yiddish folk arts program that this year (its 27th) focuses on Yiddish Theater. I will be work-studying with Jenny Romaine in the Youth Theater Workshop, where we’ll be building a piece of New Yiddish Theater in four days from the ground up (!). This experience of learning from an inspiring teaching artist will help to fulfill the practicum requirements for my MA program at Goddard.

So far, I know that the show will be inspired by a Yiddish story by Khaver-Paver about a dog named Lobzik who goes with his family to protest economic injustice and learns never to depend on politicians, and a bunch of memes including Denver the guilty dog, and a flowchart of the Declaration of the Occupation (from Occupy Wall Street).

I’m doing a bunch of reading today, trying to find out more about all the references Jenny has made as we discuss this show: the Artef movement, Meyerhold Biomechanics, William Kentridge, Grine Katshke. And I’m finishing up Adventures in Yiddishland:Postvernacular Language and Culture by Jeffrey Shandler – super relevant book.