Saturday
Down an unassuming corridor off Santa Monica’s Fourth Street lies a little gem of a theater space — the intimate Santa Monica Playhouse. It’s the perfect venue for small productions like the one-night-only performance of Murray Meyer’s autobiosolo play “Walking Back to Brooklyn: A Boy’s Journey Home,” which plays tonight. Proceeds benefit the “Save the Santa Monica Playhouse Campaign” — the theater’s “18-month do-or-die fundraising quest to purchase its long-time home.” And the play, which is part of the playhouse’s Jewish Heritage Program, tells Meyer’s story of how, at age 12, he decided to run away from his Montreal home in the vague direction of Brooklyn.
8 p.m. $10. 1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica. (310) 394-9779, ext. 1.
Sunday
In “The Annihilation of Fish,” James Earl Jones plays Fish, a Jamaican man who imagines he is wrestling the devil for the fate of humankind. Lynn Redgrave plays Poinsettia, whose own imagination places her in a love affair with the deceased composer, Puccini. Perhaps it’s a deliberate play on the old adage about the impossibility of love between a fish and a bird (“for where will they make their home?”). Though in the film, this ‘fish’ and ‘flower’ fall in love precisely when they move into neighboring apartments. The quirky love story screens tonight as a special fundraiser for the Alpert JCC. A Q-and-A session with the producers follows.
6:30 p.m. $8 (prepaid), $10 (at the door). 3801 E. Willow St., Long Beach. (562) 426-7601, ext. 1320.
Monday
Speak, read, dance, watch — practically live and breathe Yiddish this week at UCLA. They’re calling it “The Art of Yiddish,” an immersion program and winter Yiddish intensive. Intense, it certainly sounds. But if you choose, immersed, you certainly can be.
Today alone there’s a language class, a lecture on the origins and humor of juicy Yiddish expressions and a dance workshop. Closing out the week’s activities on Saturday will be a production of Sholem Aleichem’s “Mentshn” narrated by Ed Asner. You can, of course, participate in as many of the week’s activities as you desire.
Dec. 14-21. $10-$18 (individual events), $145-$225
(cultural programs only), $330-$475 (entire week). (310) 745-1190. “>www.aboutschmidtmovie.com
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