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’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.

When risqué photographs of college students are found in a professor’s desk, one professor, outraged by the lack of action, is determined to see justice served. She mobilizes the faculty, writes letters and gives interviews to keep the story alive. But she fails to take two major details into account: all of the photographed students are overweight, and all are of Middle-Eastern descent. The public becomes less concerned with justice for one student, and more concerned with body shaming and threats of global terrorism.

An Off Off Broadway theatre company produces a futuristic, post-apocalyptic, Dystopian tale, but the concept requires that the piece be performed in the nude. The play is fully rehearsed and the cast gathers for the first naked rehearsal. Hesitation sets in and causes the cast to scrutinize the concept. Are we getting naked out of necessary artistic expression? Or is this a desperate attempt to be noticed?

In 2008, Israeli-American playwright Ken Kaissar traveled to Israel and the West Bank territories to research a very realistic play about the mothers of suicide bombers and their victims. But the research he gathered drastically changed the play that he felt compelled to write.
He collected hundreds of interviews of Israelis and Palestinians alike and was struck by a common viewpoint that all of them seemed to share. Both sides believe that they are the victims in the conflict, and both sides recognize that the situation is unjust and needs to change, but none of them seem to have any idea of how to realize the change. What’s more, none of them believe that there is any participant currently involved in the conflict who has the ability to make the change. As a result, the ubiquitous attitude that was heard over and over again was: “What do you want me to do about it?”
It became very clear that a Beckettesque landscape would be the most poignant way to depict the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a society that recognizes that action must be taken, but a society that feels completely paralyzed.
The Victims shifts back and forth between two parallel worlds, one literal and the other absurd. As David travels to Israel to gather research and an understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Paula stumbles upon the garden of Jidi and Bassee, two creatures who live in an idyllic world where they grow their own food and live in tranquility, if not for the fact that the alleged owner of the garden comes to beat them everyday. But with Paula’s arrival comes hope, as she sets out to put an end to the daily beatings. Eventually, Paula and David’s optimism and good intentions are hindered by the ubiquitous attitude that all sides of the conflict have adopted: “What do you want me to do about it?”

After going against the wishes of her heart and marrying a man just to please her parents, Leah is possessed by the soul of her true love. Can an exorcism untangle their souls, or will they be forever entwined for the rest of eternity? A haunting and romantic modern-day rendition of the Jewish classic “The Dybbuk” by S. Ansky that reminds us love is a destiny that can't be escaped.

"something of a philosophical marriage between "Romeo and Juliet" and The Exoricist"
--The Buffalo News

"a darkly beautiful magical mystery . . . . theater at its finest"
--Buffalo Rising

Charles’ hope of a better future rests on the whims of the presumptive GOP nominee for president. Success is in reach, as long as his lesbian wife, bisexual mistress, transgender business partner, and deeply religious Ukrainian maid don’t get in the way. A Leg Up is a sex farce for the 21st century that sends its 8 zany characters chasing each other across boundaries of gender, sexuality, and undergarments.

When Fred McAlister’s recent ground-breaking discovery changes the face of modern sciences, his research partner, an established and recognized physicist, receives sole credit. Fred struggles with whether or not he should put up a fight. Stabilized Turbulence explores the mystery behind creative inspiration, asking the question, do we discover great ideas or do great ideas discover us?

In an anonymous conference room a group of businessmen meet to discuss the next item on their agenda. As the four yes-men weigh the pros and cons of one pretty tough question, 'A Modest Suggestion asks: Why do racism and anti-Semitism exist? What does it mean to be Jewish? How does racism turn into violence? And, do Jews eat bacon?

Hughie Lark is a painter whose entire oeuvre is exclusively made up of female nude studies. His world is rocked when, Lindsey, a woman he assumes is his new art model, accuses him of being her biological father. Lindsey forces Hughie to confront why he spends so much time painting naked women. Is he pursuing art, perpetuating lustful desire or avoiding intimacy? When she questions his integrity as a legitimate artist, Hughie finds himself defending his identity, his work, and his relationships. Nude Study is a meditation on intimacy that asks what makes us willing to get naked and who with?

Sex in marriage gets old. No one knows this better than Milford and Wendy. Despite Wendy’s attempts to liven things up, Milford is just not interested. It seems that marital ennui has set in, until Wendy learns that Milford’s best friend, Randy, is attracted to her. Wendy suggests that she and Randy have sex to see if it might reawaken their sexual desire, or, at the very least, their desire for desire. Milford agrees, but unbeknownst to either of them, Randy has sold the experience to his wife as a swinger’s evening, and now Milford is expected to have sex with Randy’s wife, a situation he never signed up for. The two couples test the strength of their friendship through sexual experimentation, only to learn that sexual tedium is inevitable. Eventually, the two couples find their way back to their respective spouse, learning that keeping sexual desire alive in marriage requires imagination, experimentation and an adventurous spirit.

Twenty-three year old Tracy is a medical-school bound senior in college who makes a living by babysitting for a family she loves. Her relationship with Phil and Monica, the parents she sits for, couldn’t be healthier. Until Phil confesses that he has a foot fetish and asks Monica if he can innocently kiss her feet. His request awakens dormant sexual desires in Tracy that lands her in therapy. This quirky comedy examines idiosyncratic sexual appetites and asks us to confront the desires that make us feel ashamed.