The world’s a stage
Patrick Feigelson of Oakland reports that he is directing and acting in the world premier of “Audition,” a two-person play by Roland David Valayre, from Jan. 20 to Feb. 12 at San Francisco’s Exit Theatre.
According to the website, Feigelson is Albert, “a half-real, half-mythical character” in the production, which “allows the characters to share their journey through life and theater, a journey with many turns, some funny, some bittersweet, some pathetic, and some absurd.” Visit www.generationtheatre.com for more information.
Dancer Anna Halprin of Mill Valley, founder of the San Francisco Dancer’s Workshop and the Tamalpa Institute, celebrated her 90th birthday in November in Israel, where she presented her Planetary Dance workshop at a conference sponsored by the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information in Beit Jalla.
“There were 100 people — Israelis and Palestinians and internationals — following Anna’s energetic and transformative leadership while everyone moved together in a collective expression of hope and peace,” says CultureShuk.com, the blog of the New York–based Foundation for Jewish Culture.
At the other end of the age spectrum, young thespians and Brandeis Hillel Day School students Samuel Berston, a seventh-grader, and Alexandra Lee, a fifth-grader, were in ACT’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” It was the second year for both.
Author, author
Linda Frank of San Francisco will speak about her book, “After the Auction,” at two gigs this month: in San Francisco at Books Inc. (in Laurel Village) on Wednesday, Jan. 19 and at Afikomen Judaica in Berkeley on Jan. 30. In a review in the Jewish Daily Forward, book critic Tom Freudenheim wrote, “It’s a really good, truly action-packed read, especially for anyone with an interest in Judaica and the world of Nazi-looted art.” For more info, visit www.lindafrankbooks.com.
Berkeley nonagenarian Rhoda Curtis notes, “There have always been conflicting voices in my head, and I always chose the voice that encouraged me to make the important changes in my life, which seem to occur every 12 years.” She recounts her changes and her story in her second book, “After Ninety, What.” Visit www.rhodabook.com to learn more about it. P.S. j. design guru Cathleen Maclearie did the book’s graphics.
‘Spasiba’ … thank you!
Morey Schapira of Sunnyvale was honored by Israel’s Knesset for his activism on behalf of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Schapira was president of our local Bay Area Council for Soviet Jewry and the president of the national Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. At the ceremony in Israel, Schapira met refuseniks he hadn’t seen since he visited Moscow and Leningrad in 1974. “It was wonderful to be reunited with Soviet Jewry activists who worked on both sides of the Iron Curtain,” he commented.
Goodbye and hello again
Yitzhak Santis and his wife, Anat Harrel, flew Jan. 9 to Israel, where they will make their new home. Santis, longtime director of the Middle East Project of Jewish Community Relations Council — and the community’s “go-to” guy — noted the move has been on the back burner for 30 years. Santis won’t be gone for too long, though; he will return briefly next month to be honored by JCRC at the group’s Behind the Scenes Gala on Feb. 16.
This columnist can be reached at [email protected].