Title: Yiddish with Dick and Jane

Written by: Ellis Weiner & Barbara Davilman; Adapted by Sara Crow

Date saw the show: July 27, 2007
Place saw the show: Kansas City, Missouri, Fringe Festival
Company: Minds Eye Theatre (www.mindseyetheatrekc.com)
Principal Leads: Tom Sawyer, Irene Blend, Brian Gatti, Mandy Lagoski
Stage Director: Matthew K. McGaugh

2 ½ stars

Reviewed by: Deborah Ground Buckner

Yiddish with Dick and Jane, by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman was published in 2004, as a clever parody of the old Dick and Jane readers, offering a view of Dick and Jane as adults living in a Yiddish world. Its original adaptation for the stage by Sara Crow, unfortunately, is a one-note joke. The narrator (Tom Sawyer) reads from a primer clearly written with the cadence of the old Dick and Jane early readers. It is the story of a family: Jane and her husband, Bob; her brother, Dick; and her sister, Sally. Life events of the family are described with Yiddish words thrown into the otherwise simple writing. Fortunately, a “Glossary” (Irene Blend) is provided, speaking with a stereotypical Jewish mother accent, as she offers helpful translations of the terms.

There are some great comic moments, such as: “See Jane schlep. Schlep, Jane, schlep. Schlep, schlep, schelp.” The actors, particularly Mandy Lagoski as Jane and Christen Thimesch as Sally offer amusing delivery and movement.

But while this is likely a very fun little book to read (and a place to learn the meanings of Yiddish words (finally, I know why Groucho Marx was offended as he sang, “Did someone call me schnorer?”--a beggar or freeloader), as a play the concept grows old quickly.