“She has beautiful eyes, this woman. And a beautiful face. And she is all day and all night in my thoughts. When I see the sun, I see her. When I see the moon, I see her, I hear her voice in the wind.”
So says Young Ansky in Chaim Potok’s original play, Out of the Depths. Based on the life of Solomon Rappaport (S. Ansky), the play begins in 1920 in a Warsaw rehearsal room where the Vilna Troupe are rehearsing Ansky’s The Dybbuk. Potok transports the audience to various times and locations in Ansky’s life, and against a backdrop of war and revolution, shows us how Ansky’s own life evolved into The Dybbuk. Directed by David Bassuk and introduced by Rena Potok, the performance celebrates the publication of The Collected Plays of Chaim Potok, edited by Rena Potok.
Chaim Potok (1929-2002) is the author of nine novels, including The Chosen, My Name is Asher Lev, Davita’s Harp, and I Am the Clay. He also wrote Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews as well as Young Adult fiction, children’s books, a collection of novellas, biographies, and numerous essays and short stories. An ordained rabbi, Potok served as a U.S. Army chaplain in Korea. The Collected Plays of Chaim Potok is the first volume of his plays to be published.