TL01252019 - Page 11

Astoria writer’s play centers on arguing politics with family BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH Roughly six years ago, Astoria writer Lisa Huberman scribbled down a short scene for a play while riding the 7 train. The moment she depicted was an argument between a Jewish woman and her non-Jewish partner. He wanted to bring up Israel with her family. She did not.Soon Queens residents will be able to see the outcome of that argument in Huberman’s new play “Fiddlers,” which will be read aloud at The Broom Theatre on Feb. 4. The play tells the story of Ava, a secular American Jewish woman who, on the anniversary of her mother’s death, returns home to see her father Bruce and “frat-boy” younger brother, Seth. Ava decides to bring along her boyfriend, a non-Jewish person of color, who works with her at a what Huberman describes as a “left-wing anti-Israeli occupation group.” Things quickly become complicated and comical when the four meet. Seth has come back from a threemonth long stint in Israel with a new wife and new found religious fervor. Bruce announces a shocking discovery about the family’s heritage that throws Ava’s dynamic with her boyfriend out of whack. Within the single day that the play takes place in, Ava is forced to wrestle with her ideas about Israel and what it means to be Jewish — something that Huberman has had to do many times. “Fiddlers is a way for me to work through my own complicated feelings about Israel, which is especially challenging with the rise of anti- Semitism over the last few years,” said Huberman. “Regardless of political affiliation, most Jews I know are living in this constant state of trauma over how to best keep our communities safe, and I want to give voice to those anxieties.” According to Huberman, the scene she hurriedly wrote on the train and then hid in a drawer was picked up again out of necessity when she joined the Queens writers’ group Mission to (Dit)Mars. The reading on Feb. 4 is part of the group’s Launch Pad Reading Series, a series of free readings of new plays by Queens playwrights. Mission to (Dit) Mars expects its members to write a full play a year. �� PUBLIC NOTICE PLATINUM �� DIAMONDS �� GOLD & SILVER COINS We Pay the Highest Price Cash in a Flash �� G O L D EN NU G G E T Don’t Let Your Money Sit Idle Sell While The Market Is High! �� TIMESLEDGER, J TIMESLEDGER.COM AN. 25-31, 2019 11 /TIMESLEDGER.COM