Play Reading in Bradley Beach and Now Freehold Probes Free Speech and the Middle East Conflict

Sep 16, 2022 by

By Susan L. Rosenbluth

When an explosive new play deals with a subject that could have been ripped from the morning’s newspaper, one public reading is not enough.  Fortunately, Gary Morgenstein’s Free Palestine, which enjoyed its premiere reading at Congregation Agudath Achim in Bradley Beach on September 4, will be heard again at the Freehold Center Playhouse on Sunday, November 6, at 2 pm.

Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind

Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who has read the play, is convinced those who have seen it have witnessed something “extremely important and relevant.”

“Gary’s play addresses a number of subjects that too many people are afraid to discuss out loud,” said Mr. Hikind, who retired from the Assembly in 2018 after representing his Brooklyn District for 36 years. “Unfortunately, we are living in a time when one side—the haters who are anti-Israel—absolutely refuse to allow open discussion on the issue of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The Left’s position is: Don’t confuse us with facts.”

Mr. Hikind, who is still an activist for the Jewish community in general and especially on issues of support for Israel, said he is delighted the play is being presented in Jewish venues, such as the synagogue in Bradley Beach, as well as secular ones, including the playhouse in Freehold.

A Probe into the Conflict

The play is a probe into issues that have long interested Mr. Hikind as well as others involved in the Middle East conflict, including academic freedom, the perils of political correctness run amok, free speech, and how they interconnect with the perennial problem of parenting children whose passions take them in directions never expected by those who love them.

The premise of Free Palestine is the situation of a Jewish social studies teacher at a ritzy private school in fashionable Brooklyn who dares to teach both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict and, for his efforts, is fired. His daughter wants him to sue, but the teacher lacks the financial wherewithal to mount such a case.

The daughter locates a well-heeled African-American woman who will consider taking the case pro bono, but there are complications. For one thing, the attorney’s husband has political aspirations for which he’d like the backing of the school’s well-heeled parent body, and, in addition, the couple had a son who attended the school, where he was mercilessly bullied for being a Black conservative.

The cast, from left: Jane DeNoble, Kristina McKinney, Tracy Howard, Jackie Kusher, Tavea Sanderson, Arthur Gregory Pugh, TJ Coan, and director, Bernice Garfield-Szita

Fine Cast

As it was in Bradley Beach, the play is being directed in Freehold by Bernice Garfield-Szita, artistic director of the town’s Center Players.

The cast features – Jackie Kusher as the teacher, Adam Seitz; Tracy Howard as his daughter, Estie; and Tavea Sanderson as the attorney, Vanessa Bickford.

The rest of the cast consists of Arthur Gregory Pugh (Reggie Bickford); TJ Coan (Preston Tyler); and Kristina McKinney (Nadia Ruiz); with Jane DeNoble handling stage directions.

Mr. Morgenstein, a prolific, award-winning novelist as well as playwright, has been featured in national media ranging from The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Parade Magazine, and the New York Post, to Sports Illustrated and NPR. His multi-generational drama, A Tomato Can’t Grow in the Bronx, has been nominated for six 2022 Perry Awards by the NJACT, including Best Original Play, following its April premiere at Center Players in Freehold.

Rabbi Maury Kelman, left, with actor Arthur Gregory Pugh (top) Playwright Gary Morgenstein, left, with Pastor Tom Jenkins of Sewell, NJ (bottom)

Talkback

After the reading of Free Palestine in Bradley Beach, there was a talkback featuring Mr. Morgenstein; Congregation Agudath Achim’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Maury Kelman; and the members of the cast. The discussion, which continued for well over half an hour, touched on many of the issues presented by the play.

“This fear of hearing both sides of an issue because some of the information runs counter to the narrative with which you’re comfortable has got to end,” said Rabbi Kelman. “Rational, polite discussion in which all sides of an issue are aired—and which can be heard by students who need as much information as they can get—is vital to the continuation of democracy as we know it.”

There will be a similar talkback at the end of the reading in Freehold.

The Center Playhouse in Freehold is located at 35 South Street, and Tickets for the presentation of Free Palestine on November 6 at 2 PM are $10. For more information, call the theater at 732-333-0452 or 732-462-9093. The email address is info1@centerplayers.org.

“It’s convenient to keep your head in the sand on issues like the ones explored in this play, but considering the forces arrayed against the Jewish state, that attitude could be the road to fascism. Facts and history are the most important elements necessary to understand the conflict in the Middle East,” said Mr. Hikind.

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