While mandatory coronavirus closures forced the cancellation of the Jewish Women’s Theatre’s March production “Sex, Addiction and Love,” JWT has now gone digital with a collection of daily stories called under the banner “Inside Our Time” on their YouTube channel, providing food for thought in isolating and scary times.
“The idea was to provide comfort, to say ‘You’re not alone, here’s what other people are feeling,’ and connect,” said JWT artistic director Ronda Spinak. “You’ve always come to us for contemporary stories that make you laugh, that make you cry. We’re offering those stories online for free as a way to say ‘We’re here, we’re part of your community, you’re not alone. Others are feeling and experiencing exactly what you’re feeling and experiencing.’ The stories are little slices of life, what life is like today and what we’re feeling.”
JWT invited patrons to share their feelings and experiences and received great responses. “Instead of just posting them, we asked our list of amazing actors if they would be willing to read one from their home, using their smartphone,” Spinak said. “From idea to inception it was four days.”
New stories will post daily Monday-Friday, and the Friday stories will be “a little more prayerful or have a spiritual edge to them,” in honor of Shabbat, Spinak said. Additionally, she’s curating stories from the archive of past JWT performances with a Passover theme that will run daily for the eight days of Passover. They will be available here.
