Judy Meiksin

Workshop production, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, 2006

Full-length play

In this historical drama in pre-state Israel, an idealistic orphan of the holocaust named Jonathan is just entering adulthood where he wants to learn what happened to his parents. His motherly aunt encourages him at first, while his girlfriend and uncle—both scorched from their experiences with anti-semitism—join forces to deter him from his mission in an effort to shield him from the trauma. His aunt soon joins against Jonathan’s mission. The three of them form a gap between Jonathan and a distraught woman from Europe who knows how his parents were killed. Despite the efforts of Jonathan’s family, Jonathan and the distraught woman pursue one another, which culminates in their first meeting that Jonathan arranges in the home of his uncle and aunt. With this meeting, Jonathan enables his girlfriend, his aunt and uncle, and the woman to face the ugliness and emotional pain with him that they have each experienced separately in order to start healing together.

Detailed synopsis
The play opens on the evening of the UN vote on independent Jewish and Palestinian countries. Jonathan’s family will listen to the vote over the radio in his Aunt Rachel and Uncle Saul’s apartment in Haifa. As Jonathan—an orphan of the holocaust and now 19 years old—and Rachel anxiously wait for the vote to begin, Jonathan examines his parents’ letters to try to trace their steps during the Nazi invasion, the endeavor made particularly difficult because the letters are in Polish, which he can’t translate. He knows that a “crazy woman” has recently met with Saul and told him what happened to Jonathan’s parents, but Saul refuses to tell Jonathan and can’t even look at him anymore. Now with the UN vote, Saul suffers from guilt that he had escaped Poland but didn’t save his family; Jonathan is having nightmares that his parents have been killed and made into soap. His girlfriend Miriam arrives from the radio station where she and her band had been playing music before the vote. Miriam is afraid of a war because the surrounding Arab countries don’t support a Jewish country. As the anticipation of the vote wears on their nerves, Rachel and Jonathan step out on the balcony to clear their heads, but Saul remains in the apartment and Miriam stays with him. The Crazy Woman comes to the apartment looking for Jonathan. Saul makes her leave. Miriam, who had spied for the Allies in France and had been exposed to the atrocities of the war, convinces Saul to tell her what he learned from the Crazy Woman. Over the radio, the vote begins and the family pulls together to listen. The vote is in favor of two independent countries, currently under British control, to be enacted in six months.
The next morning, in Miriam’s apartment, Miriam is upset because the news reported an Arab sniper attack on Jews, and the Jewish underground is preparing for war. Jonathan searches for a message to him from his parents in their letters. He is scared that this obsession to hear from his parents will make him crazy. The letters are written in code and Miriam offers to help him decipher it. Jonathan invites Miriam to join the underground with him. She hadn’t thought about it. He suggests, alternatively, that she perform for the troops. He receives a wall of silence from her, which drives him out of the apartment.
That same morning, Saul’s mood has changed to euphoria because of the UN vote and he decides to go to the underground to see if he can aid the war effort through construction work. Rachel chooses photos of her family for Jonathan to keep when he goes to war so that the memory of family draws him back home. She also wants photos of Saul’s family, which angers Saul as he wants to put the past behind him. He is afraid the Crazy Woman will find Jonathan; Rachel suggests the woman can be taken to a special hospital in Jerusalem set up to help survivors of the holocaust. Since the woman responded well to Miriam the night before, Saul decides to ask Miriam to take her.
Miriam confides in Saul that as a spy, she had performed for the soldiers and “flirted” with them to gather information. Saul consoles her and they form even a tighter bond. Miriam agrees to take the “crazy woman” to Jerusalem and not tell Jonathan. When Jonathan returns, he wants to know why Saul visited; he can tell Miriam is keeping secrets from him and says he must’ve moved in with her too soon in their relationship. He moves out.
The play ends on the evening when the British military is to leave the region, leaving Israel to its first day of independence. Without telling his family, Jonathan had found the “crazy woman” and invited her to Sabbath dinner. Saul had invited Miriam, also, to play her new compositions for them. Jonathan convinces everyone to let the woman tell him her message. She tells the story of his parents and her family in the form of a fairytale in a failed attempt to soften a reality that can’t be contained. Through the telling, she delivers a message from Jonathan’s parents: To live. Saul translates their last letter to Jonathan, confirming that message.

Workshopped with The LAB Project
Funded with a grant from Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

Full-length play

In this scientific drama, a gifted young woman who believes she has no chances in life reinvents herself when she is professionally groomed for the field of materials science by an esteemed professor. After a series of mishaps in the academic world, she finally presents her research done under the mentorship of her professor. However, when her work is called into question by the professor in a public venue, she must decide to fold or to fight for her scholarly reputation.

Funded with a grant from the Pittsburgh Lambda Foundation

Full-length play

In this lesbian love story, safety-nut ROZA and dare-devil PEARL reach an impasse at their 10th anniversary where PEARL no longer lets ROZA hold her back from her wild dreams. In their separation, ROZA finds a new girlfriend to “rescue” and PEARL finds a romantic fling. They each soon discover that they carry their same problems into the next relationship. While each ends her new relationship, the other doesn’t know and believes their marriage is over. When PEARL returns home to collect some of her belongings, they find out there is no one else in the picture. Can the couple renew their relationship and make it last?

Detailed synopsis
This is a lesbian love story. The play opens with a Prelude where the characters meet, done in pantomime. This is followed by the story in five parts. “Unraveling” is the first scene in which ROZA and PEARL, just about to celebrate their 10th anniversary, end up with an abrupt separation. PEARL walks out as she is fed up with ROZA constantly telling her what to do and what decisions to make.

In “Teetering,” PEARL embarks on her journey to explore whether she is interested in learning to be a wilderness first responder. At the workshop, she begins a new romantic interest with WOOFER. In the meantime, ROZA—distraught with no contact from PEARL—waits for her to come home. ROZA’s new friend, SNAP, becomes her confidante. ROZA then turns her attention to SNAP’s needs—to help SNAP find a job.

In “Launching,” PEARL and WOOFER are well into their sexual relationship. For PEARL, the relationship is sexual; she doesn’t have much emotion invested; but WOOFER, emotionally, is moving rapidly as she is so excited to meet someone else who loves the wilderness. At the same time, as ROZA helps SNAP in a job search, SNAP begins flirting with ROZA as this is the most significant experience she has had with someone taking such a personal interest in her welfare. At the end of this scene, ROZA finds out that PEARL has been in what ROZA believes is a relationship with WOOFER. ROZA now accepts that her relationship with PEARL has gone beyond separation; that it is actually over.

“Discovery” is part four in which ROZA and SNAP have embarked on a sexual relationship. PEARL stops her relationship with WOOFER, however, as she realizes WOOFER is no better than ROZA in trying to dictate what PEARL should do. PEARL also surprisingly wants to share with ROZA her excitement over her newly discovered passion for the wilderness. When she tries to contact ROZA, she finds out that ROZA is now involved with SNAP. PEARL is distressed as she believes ROZA has moved on and their separation actually marked the end of their relationship. ROZA, however, ends what she started with SNAP as she experiences a repeat of what PEARL had complained about where ROZA constantly tries to “rescue” others instead of letting them make their own decisions.

In “Fusion,” PEARL returns to her home with ROZA in order to collect some of her belongings. Here the couple looks into whether they can continue their relationship with the necessary changes in order to make it last.

In Their Own Voices Online, 10-minute excerpt, City Theatre

Full-length play

Logline: LIORA, a lesbian teenager and granddaughter to holocaust survivors, learns from her parents and grandparents what it takes to create a successful romantic relationship, as all three generations navigate between risk-taking and fear.

Synopsis: This epic love story spans three generations. Violinist LIORA, a lesbian teenager and granddaughter to holocaust survivors, plans her life methodically: college with her girlfriend after which they’ll launch their music career. This plan falls apart when an exceptional career opportunity lands at her girlfriend’s feet. Instead of supporting her girlfriend, LIORA foils her girlfriend’s plans to drive in a snow storm to meet with a band for an opportunity that will launch her music career. Similarly, LIORA’s father disables his wife’s van, interfering with her plans to drive in the same snow storm in order to follow through on a volunteer commitment. Instead of following in her father’s footsteps, can LIORA learn from her grandparents how to stop fear from meddling with her relationship? How can her grandfather’s violin connect LIORA to her grandparents’ experience of surviving and thriving after the loss of their families in the Holocaust, of their experience to find the miracle that enabled them to overcome fear of losing family and be able to start anew?

Full-length play

In this historical-to-contemporary drama, an idealistic Israeli in his 80s pays a surprised visit to an all-business scientist and her family in the United States because he believes the scientist to be the daughter of a long-lost friend. He is confronted with a less-than-ideal greeting, however, when the scientist is no longer able to suppress her locked-up feelings of having grown up in a Palestinian refugee camp as the result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the 1940s.

The play opens with a prologue taking place in 1948 in the region of Haifa at the start of a war between Israelis and Palestinians, with two couples on stage, one Jewish and one Palestinian. The next scene takes place in 1947 on the eve of the UN vote on independent Jewish and Palestinian countries under threat by the surrounding Arab countries that don’t support a Jewish state. Jonathan, in preparation for the Jewish underground, practices assembling and dissembling his gun in haste and hiding the pieces. As his wife Miriam enters, he hides the weapon from her. She is a musician in a band with Jews, Palestinians, and with British soldiers who are currently in control of the region. She is afraid that the UN vote will end the peace she experiences among colleagues from the three groups of nationalities. In reality, however the vote turns out, war will be the result. She discovers Jonathan’s weapon. Jonathan has lost his parents to the holocaust, never knowing exactly what happened to them. His only consolation is that, by fighting for Israeli independence, he can ensure such a catastrophe never happens again. They then listen to the vote over the radio. Simultaneously, the Palestinian couple, Zarefah and Saed, listen to the vote. Zarefah is afraid of a war and wants the Jews to leave while Saed maintains that Palestinians and Jews can be friends such as his friendship with everyone in their band. The vote is in favor of two independent countries.
Back to 1948, Haifa is under attack and Zarefah doesn’t know whether Saed is safe as he is supposedly performing at the radio station there with his band. He comes home, unconcerned, because his band avoided the station and met at his music shop instead. Zarefah wants to leave by boat to Akko where her family lives in order to escape the escalating war. Saed wants to remain where they are, believing that the Palestinian leaders are negotiating a truce. News breaks out that the leaders left the region. Zarefah suffers pain from her pregnancy, which convinces Saed that they should be with her family who can help. He wants to sell his store first, but Zarefah is already packed and leaves for the boats now.
The rest of the play takes place in the 21st century in Pittsburgh, with scientists Mariam and her husband Mubarak who both grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, and her postdoc, Ruth, who is Jewish. Mariam suspects misconduct by another research group on work that contradicts her own research results on renewable energy, which she is about to take to companies in the middle east who are looking for energy sources other than oil. Now she has to postpone her plans while the other group goes under investigation. This angers Mariam who is trying to prevent war over energy. She attends a conference, announcing work on a different project, pending her accusation of misconduct.
Back home after the conference, she tells Mubarak and Ruth about an elderly Israeli engineer she met on the airplane who is traveling to Chicago to pick up his wife from a performance because she has fallen ill. The engineer had invented many types of soaps which he hasn’t manufactured. She had invited the engineer to contact her about manufacturing miraculous soaps he had invented but never patented. He arrives, unexpectedly, but not to talk business. He believes that his wife knew her father. Mariam’s father, indeed, is Saed; however, the news for Mariam is far from welcoming. She relives scenes from her childhood with a father, now deceased, who would be happy about the reunion but her mother and brothers would believe she’s befriending “the enemy” and she is faced, for the first time, to understand her own feelings about Jonathan. As a scientist, she had always thought to remain apolitical as science can solve global problems. Jonathan receives word that his granddaughter may have been in a nightclub in Israel attacked by terrorists. Mariam empathizes with Jonathan, but he is in shock and leaves. Mariam suffers further loss because she came so close to making peace with Israelis from her parents’ generation, Israelis who may have more stories for her about her father.

IN DEVELOPMENT - feedback welcome

Full-length play

While exploring seven traveling women in Zoom for their final high-school assignment, lesbian lovers BHAGYA and CHIUNG-WEI clash over their own plans for the future.

IN DEVELOPMENT - feedback welcome

Full-length play

When Mali Spighel sees a street named after her, she feels shame and entreats the audience to deliver a message to her family on her behalf.

Short-listed for the Analogio Playwriting Prize in Greece

One-act play

Having lost his wife and children to the holocaust, JOZEF gets a second chance with his new wife HELENA to start again. The life of his new family is put at risk, though, when HELENA proves too anxiety-ridden to go for medical help for her delicate pregnancy. In a situation now where he has choices, JOZEF struggles to make the right one to save his family.

Written by invitation for a holiday festival, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

One-act play

On the third night of Hanukkah, broken-hearted JULIE takes a hike with big sister CAMMY in the back country to seek peace of mind over the end of her six-year romantic relationship. JULIE’s mourning period gets rudely disrupted when she and her sister take a fall, injuring them both, and learn from their rescuer—a Wilderness First Responder—that they have to wait until the light of dawn to climb back out. Frightened by her situation, can Hanukkah serve as the pulse that provides a steady foundation?

One-act play

LYNNE and DANIELLE’S friendship is tested when LYNNE decides to continue dating her latest—abusive—girlfriend. The girlfriend hires a male "personal trainer" to keep tabs on LYNNE and chase away DANIELLE.

One-act play

While lone horse rancher HENDA recuperates in Pittsburgh after a tragic attempt to settle the Western frontier, coquettish EIDEL reignites HENDA’s drive to try again. However, HENDA’s plans leave no room for a partner, especially a romantic one.

One-act play

As a budding scientist, FRANKIE strives to develop a science project about energy for a high school Science Fair. However, her dysfunctional family inadvertently sabotages her efforts. In order to reach her goal, FRANKIE develops an alter-ego based on an 80-year-old scientist she finds on YouTube, MILLIE DRESSELHAUS. But is FRANKIE’s shear imagination powerful enough?

One-act play

It is a half hour before the Reverend is to open her new Sanctuary with the promise of salvation for her lgbtq+ congregants. But as the Reverend and her young contractor are wrapping up some last touches to make the building presentable, a series of mishaps occur and the building starts to fall apart around them. As they frantically put out the escalating fires, the Reverend’s adoptive mother arrives to denounce this Sanctuary. With this condemnation, the Reverend’s naïve contractor begins to undo the construction work they have done in order to avoid God’s damnation. How will the Reverend save her flock without alienating her own mother in the process?

One-act play

Arrested for harboring a Roman Catholic priest, Margaret Clitherow faces the choice of defending herself or accepting punishment by death.

10-minute play

Self-righteous, public health practitioner Rebecca Cohen, strongly influenced by her mother—a hardcore environmental activist—turns her attention to the environmental impact on human health. Her target is a nuclear power company. Rebecca’s mission is to persuade the head scientist of the company to change their research to a renewable form of energy that does no harm. The scientist is Rebecca’s estranged grandmother, Grandma Cohen.

10-minute play

LYNNE and DANIELLE’S friendship is tested when LYNNE decides to continue dating her latest—abusive—girlfriend.

Monologue

While entrepreneur CLARA BROWN washes her customers’ laundry, she gets an unwelcome visit from the wealthy pioneers of Colorado. As a self-manumitted woman, she balances humility with self-determination in light of her white neighbors’ advice on how she should spend her money. She knows they think she is frivolous. Can she convince them that, with the end of slavery, she knows what she’s doing?

Monologue

A Jewish grandmother faces her anxiety of public speaking in order to testify in favor of reinstating “sexual orientation” in a Hate Crime law in Pennsylvania on behalf of her granddaughter.