Explore the new adaptation and staging of מעשׂיות (English: Stories) a Yiddish play by Yitzkhok Leibush Peretz, coming soon to the Boston Centre for the Arts! Using a fresh translation by Giovanna Truong and Ruthie Davis, the play, based on a short story by Peretz, takes audiences on a fabulous journey through fantasy, folklore, and history, and explores how the stories we tell shape who we are. Set in a bustling, multicultural Warsaw at the turn of the 20th century, the play follows a young Jewish writer as he spends his day trying to craft a story to tell to a woman he is definitely not in love with (or, so he tells himself). This conversation guided by Catherine Alam-Nist will dive into the creative process behind this new production. This presentation will give a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and creative decisions shaping this upcoming performance. Central to our conversation will be questions of language and translation, collaboration and embodiment, and the myriad colorful folkloric and narrative genres which the piece brings together onstage.

More from the BCA website: "As Yitzkhok Leibush Peretz builds his story-world, we start to see his various influences — European fairytales, stories from the Hebrew Bible, Shakespeare characters, rabbinic folklore, and events from Jewish history — materialize and intertwine with one another, along with some parts of his own life which he’d perhaps rather forget. Stories is ultimately concerned with the narratives which shape how we understand our histories, ourselves, and our relationships, and suggests that while we may not be able to change the events which brought us here, we have plenty of ability to determine what happens next."

Catherine Nist is a recent graduate of Yale College and soon-to-be-graduate of Harvard Divinity School, where she concentrates in Religion, Literature and Culture. Her academic work focuses on the German-language tradition of Jewish thought in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, particularly in relation to the arts and aesthetics. She is also the artistic director of the Cunning Folk, a non-profit theatre project in the Boston area which stages plays related to religion, myth, and spirituality.