land of no mercy

by Rae Binstock

The apartment sits on the corner of Monroe and Clinton, tucked away in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It’s a cozy little place, just big enough for two—but which two? Yetta and Solomon, the Jewish immigrants from 1915, business owners fighting to get through each day and hold on to a world thousands of miles away, while they worry about starting a family in the Land of Opportunity? Or Maria and Alex, the...

The apartment sits on the corner of Monroe and Clinton, tucked away in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It’s a cozy little place, just big enough for two—but which two? Yetta and Solomon, the Jewish immigrants from 1915, business owners fighting to get through each day and hold on to a world thousands of miles away, while they worry about starting a family in the Land of Opportunity? Or Maria and Alex, the millennial oddballs of the present who sweep into the neighborhood on a tide of gentrification, struggling to keep their college relationship viable in the face of new stressors, new ambitions, and new neighbors?

A century apart but close enough to touch, two couples inhabit the same cramped apartment. Their stories weave together, contrasted throughout history, a collage of youth, hope, and uncertainty in what Tony Kushner calls “the melting pot where nothing melted”.

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land of no mercy

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  • Premiere Stages: land of no mercy by Rae Binstock
    “

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Land of No Mercy by Rae Binstock as a Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Premiere Play Festival. Land of No Mercy rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 48 Semi-Finalists out of 760 submissions. The panel found it to be a moving, funny exploration of marriage and the hopes and fears that can shape a culture. Our congratulations and thanks to Rae.

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Land of No Mercy by Rae Binstock as a Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Premiere Play Festival. Land of No Mercy rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 48 Semi-Finalists out of 760 submissions. The panel found it to be a moving, funny exploration of marriage and the hopes and fears that can shape a culture. Our congratulations and thanks to Rae.

    ”
  • Larry Rinkel: land of no mercy by Rae Binstock
    “

    "New York is so confusing." Rae Binstock's quatrilingual, dual time-frame "drama américana (en zvey aktn)" subtly depicts the marital/relationship struggles, employment difficulties, and cultural clashes of Lower East Siders struggling to assimilate and speaking Yiddish, Chinese, and Spanish (supertitles optional) as well as English, both today and 100 years ago. Reminiscent of Stoppard's approach in "Arcadia," Binstock sets various scenes simultaneously in the present and past, suggesting both parallels and contrasts. Among my favorite parts are when Jewish Yetta and Chinese Li communicate...

    "New York is so confusing." Rae Binstock's quatrilingual, dual time-frame "drama américana (en zvey aktn)" subtly depicts the marital/relationship struggles, employment difficulties, and cultural clashes of Lower East Siders struggling to assimilate and speaking Yiddish, Chinese, and Spanish (supertitles optional) as well as English, both today and 100 years ago. Reminiscent of Stoppard's approach in "Arcadia," Binstock sets various scenes simultaneously in the present and past, suggesting both parallels and contrasts. Among my favorite parts are when Jewish Yetta and Chinese Li communicate haltingly, speaking their own languages and writing in limited English about Li's sick little boy.

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    ”

Development History

Awards

  • 2017 Theatre Grant
    David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists
    Winner
    2017