Spectacular Vernacular: An Interview with Ezra Berkley Nepon on New Yiddish Theater, Queer Performance Arts, and “Dazzle Camouflage”

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Since before Susan Sontag’s “Notes on Camp” (1964), critics have attempted to map the relationship between Jewish culture in the US, gay culture, and theater. In this interview with writer Ezra Berkley Nepon, we discuss the connections between these genres, examining questions of Ashkenazi and queer identity, anti-assimilationism, and new Yiddish performing arts—“Notes on KlezKamp,” if you will.

Your new book is a narrative ethnography of two spaces that reject assimilation while simultaneously embracing tradition. Why bring together these two theater cultures?Read more

Photo: KlezKamp Youth Theater Workshop 2009 (Credit: Alan Lankin)