Tales of Chelm

Episode 2: To Catch a Thief

JArts TheatreWorks Group Presents

Tales of Chelm: To Catch a Thief

Run Time: 13 Minutes

Summary

“To Catch a Thief” explores the friendship that inadvertently blossoms between Gedaliah the Goniff and Zalman Shlomo the Gate Keeper. Told entirely through puppetry, the episode opens with Gedaliah stealing a coin purse from Reb Fishel, the town mayor. Zalman Shlomo attempts to pursue Gedaliah, only to be tricked by him in a variety of idiotic ways. As the narrative progresses, Gedaliah’s plans to evade Shlomo become increasingly ridiculous. 

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Watch Episode 2 of Tales of Chelm

About Tales of Chelm

Watch the Tales of Chelm trailer

The JArtsTM TheatreWorks production of Tales of Chelm is based on the book, “The Wise Folk of Chelm” by Rabbi Seymour Rossel. Adaptors Jesse Garlick and Dori Robinson approach classic Jewish folktales through a modern lens in Tales of Chelm, reimagined by JArts Theatreworks. Composed of four segments, Tales of Chelm utilizes innovate performance techniques, such as puppets, masks and clowning, to tell the stories of the people of Chelm— Eastern European villagers who considered themselves uniquely wise, and whose antics have been amusing us since the sixteenth century. Learn how the town of Chelm came to be, follow along as they attempt the seemingly impossible, and discover why Jewish culture has rendered these stories immortal. Zany fun for all ages! 

Read About Chelm:

“What You Always Wanted To Know About Chelm Before You Ever Knew About Chelm” by Rabbi Seymour Rossel

“Celebrating Chelm, or Shlimazel Tov” by Stuart J. Hecht

Q&A with Adaptor Jesse Garlick and Author Judy Bolton-Fasman

Download our Tales of Chelm Coloring Page, the perfect supplementary activity for young audiences:

Starring

Adaptors

Jesse Garlick is a Boston based actor, director and theater educator. 

Off-Broadway credits: Good  (PTP/Atlantic),  Who Would Be King  (Ars Nova/Liars & Believers). Regional credits:  A Christmas Carol, Journey to the West, Arcadia  (Central Square Theatre)  Good, Assassins, A Midsummer Night’s Dream  (New Repertory Theatre) Who Would Be King, Yellow Bird Chase, A Story Beyond  (Liars & Believers),  Hamlet, As You Like It  (Brown Box Theatre Project)  Salome  (Bridge Rep)  Beowulf  (Poets Theatre). Jesse is a former faculty member at the Boston Ballet’s ECI Department. In addition, Jesse has taught acting, devising, and movement at numerous schools and summer programs across the Northeast. Jesse holds a BFA in acting from Boston University as well as having attended the Academia Dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy, and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. He is currently an MFA candidate at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University as well as acting Education Director for the Boston-based devising company Liars & Believers, with whom he will be bringing the original deaf-accessible play Yellow Bird Chase to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2022. 

Dori Robinson is a director, playwright, dramaturg, and educator. She seeks and develops projects that explore social consciousness, personal heritage, and the difference one individual has on their community. Some of her great loves are the Oxford comma, trees, intersectional feminism, and exchanging with artistic collaborators. 

With a Masters degree from New York University’s  Educational Theatre program, Dori has been a director and experiential educator for years.  As an avid teaching artist, she shares her love of Shakespeare, new play development, physical theatre, political theatre, and gender in performance.  Directing credits include  Silent Sky  (Elliot Norton Winner for Best Production – Fringe, Flat Earth Theatre), A Bright Room Called DayJulius Caesar  (co-director),  The Merchant of VeniceDie Kleinen  (Parts 1 & 2),  The Lion in WinterExtremitiesFlightPippinJames and the Giant Peach,  and  Peter and the Starcatcher.  Dori’s original plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Boston, including  The Great HarvestThe Principal Stream,  Name of a WomanSix Wings to One, and most recently The Elm Tree with her company,  Alight Theater Guild.

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TheatreWorks is a curated group of creative professionals, theater experts, and community organizers who work to broaden and enhance the scope and creative capacity of JArts theatre-based programming.

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