Evento

"THE CHOSEN"

Second Stage - the Professional Division of Manchester Community Theatre Players will present Arron Posner's and Chaim Potok's adaptation of Chaim Potok's award winning novel "The Chosen".

Set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY during the 1940s, only five city blocks separate an Ultra-orthodox Jewish Hasidic community from an Orthodox Jewish Community. Despite their physical proximity these two communities are a world apart. The story takes us on a universal journey where opposites can co-exist and both can be true whether it is in the relationship between fathers and sons, friendships between rivals or modern ideas versus traditional dogma. "The Chosen" helps us search for the common truths which permit men of good character no matter how different their beliefs to work together for a common cause.

It all begins with a baseball game where we meet the batter Danny Saunder (Daniel Schwartzberg) son of the Hasidic Reb Saunder (Mark Schwartzberg) and the pitcher Reuven Malter (Michael Martin) the son of the orthodox scholar David Malter (Shawn Koczarski). A line drive hit by Danny strikes Reuven in the eye knocking him unconscious. Tradition then requires Danny to seek forgiveness from his injured rival opening the door for the first time between these two young men and ultimately between their fathers. The story is narrated by an adult Reuven who plays the role of story teller and translator of traditions as well as a distanced observer who can guide the audience from the specific examples in Jewish culture to the universal truths that exist for all mankind. Difficult choices occur in each family as the two young men make surprising life choices that not only shape their futures but those of their fathers and their respective communities.

Whether your background included exposure to a religion or was totally secular "The Chosen" will provide a framework for appreciating and becoming tolerant of other individuals. Irreconcilable ideas seem as though the cannot both be true - and yet as "The Chosen" helps us understand "it seems they can be".

Original music has been written for this production by Nathan Schwartzberg.