Weekend at Betty's

by Ken Kaissar

Leo is the cantor of a liberal congregation with a female rabbi. This year, his rightwing orthodox family is joining him for the High Holiday weekend. In order to avoid conversations about gender equality and whether a woman should be a Rabbi, he invites his best friends Carl and Evie, who are wrapped up in their own domestic drama. Everyone walks on eggshells to avoid discussing religion, gender issues and Leo...

Leo is the cantor of a liberal congregation with a female rabbi. This year, his rightwing orthodox family is joining him for the High Holiday weekend. In order to avoid conversations about gender equality and whether a woman should be a Rabbi, he invites his best friends Carl and Evie, who are wrapped up in their own domestic drama. Everyone walks on eggshells to avoid discussing religion, gender issues and Leo’s impending marriage to a woman his mother disapproves of. Meanwhile, his sister has chosen this weekend to explain to her parents why she has never dated a man. And all of these conflicts unfold in the home once owned by the author of The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan. The irony is not lost on any of them.

Playwright's Note: This play is based on a real Rosh Hashanah weekend that I spent in the home of the late feminist Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique.

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Weekend at Betty's

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: Weekend at Betty's

    A revealing look at where gender equality and religion stand in the complexity of family drama. Well done.

    A revealing look at where gender equality and religion stand in the complexity of family drama. Well done.

  • Playwrights Foundation: Weekend at Betty's

    Playwrights Foundation enthusiastically recommends this play, WEEKEND AT BETTY'S, as a Semi-Finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2020. We were moved by the quality of the writing and the relevant and compelling themes that spoke to the mission of our festival. It excelled in a competitive process of 735 plays submitted this year and rose to the top after a six month long process discussing its merits with both national and local Bay Area readers, and we hope it moves swiftly towards production.

    Playwrights Foundation enthusiastically recommends this play, WEEKEND AT BETTY'S, as a Semi-Finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2020. We were moved by the quality of the writing and the relevant and compelling themes that spoke to the mission of our festival. It excelled in a competitive process of 735 plays submitted this year and rose to the top after a six month long process discussing its merits with both national and local Bay Area readers, and we hope it moves swiftly towards production.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Bristol Riverside Theatre, Year 2019

Awards

  • Bay Area Playwrights Festival
    Playwrights Foundation
    Semi-Finalist
    2020