Tuvia Tenenbom, Artistic Director

 

Tuvia Tenenbom is a journalist, author, dramatist, and the founder of the Jewish Theater of New York. Tuvia studied for his doctorate in English literature at St. John's University, earned his MFA in Playwriting at CUNY-Brooklyn, BS in mathematics and computer science at Touro, and finished his rabbinical studies in Jerusalem. He also studied Christianity and Islam in Israel and New York as well as journalism, acting, theater, and finance (at NYU).

Tuvia was named "founder of a new form of Jewish theater" by the French Le Monde, "founder of The Theater of Catastrophe" by the German Die Zeit, "The New Jew" by the Israeli Maariv, "Free artist who fights for truth and tolerance" by the Belgian Le Vif L'Express, and "One of the most iconoclastic and innovative of contemporary dramatists" by the Italian Corriere Della Sera. Critic D. J .R. Bruckner. reviewing for the New York Times, described Tuvia's theatrical work "irresistibly fascinating," and Alisa Solomon, writing for the Village Voice, called it "theater of integrity, inquiry and chutzpah."

As a journalist, Tuvia writes essays and op-ed articles for various publications. His articles and essays have been published in newspapers including Die Zeit of Germany, Corriere della Sera of Italy, and Yedioth Ahronoth of Israel as well as on various Internet sites.

Tuvia is also a columnist for Die Zeit. His column, "Fett wie ein Turnschuh," appears twice a month.

Tuvia is the author of the critically acclaimed new book, I Sleep in Hitler's Room, a psychological and literary travelogue of Germany and Europe.

 

 

 

 

Select Criticism of Tuvia's past and present works:

"Founder of a new form of Jewish theatre ... A mystical provocateur; unstoppable director and iconoclastic playwright." Le Monde (France)

"One of the most iconoclastic and innovative of contemporary dramatists." Corriere Della Sera (Italy)

"A New Jew." Ma'ariv (Israel)

"Tenenbom’s laughter touches our soul in places where mere intellect could never reach... Creator of the Theater of Catastrophe." Die Zeit (Germany)

"Irresistibly fascinating, emotionally explosive ... seductive and engaging... Bluntly satirical..." The New York Times

"Most unique theatrical experience I have had ... Tenenbom rides the razor’s edge ... and goes all the way off. A rollercoaster of an Absurdist comedy." Amsterdam News

"He sees and he hears. Exactly as it is." Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany)

"Tenenbom’s hodgepodge of politics, zealotry and literary genres is fresh and audacious... Theater of integrity, inquiry, and chutzpah." The Village Voice

"The Most Important Play of the Year." StadtRevue (Germany)

"Every word that comes out of Tenenbom’s pen can set the world on fire." Forward

"Brilliant ... A Work of Art." The Jewish Week

"Dazzling ... A free artist who fights for truth and tolerance." Le Vif L’Express (Belgium)

"He resembles the late German stage and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. But where Fassbinder blackly brooded, Tenenbom crackles and shoots off sparks… Very imaginative  … surreal… He’s not conventional." Lifestyle

"There’s nothing else like it." Jewish News

"Genius ... World’s best Jewish theater." European Journal

"Unique; sensational; outrageous, hilarious ... Sharp eye for cultural details." BackStage

"Tenenbom dares." La Razon (Spain)

"Amazingly original." Jewish Currents

"An anarchist, shocking Germany..." Stern (Germany)

"Unusually amusing ... full of biting humor and theological reflections." Deutschlandradio (Germany)

"Praised by audiences." CNN

 

Select Plays, Readings, Directing:

Works Produced by The JTNY:

SAIDA: A Tunisian Love Storuy, Press #93 for Kosher Jewish Girls in Krakow, Mountain Jews, Last Jew in Europe, Father of the Angels, One Hundred Gates, Love in Great Neck, Love Letters to Adolf Hitler, The Diary of Adolf Eichmann, The American Jew, The Suicide Bomber, Like Two Eagles, Kabbalah, The Beggar of Borough Park, The Last Virgin.

European Productions:

Le Pére des Anges, Brussels, Belgium (2002); Adolf Eichmann – letzter Akt, Hamburg, Germany (2001); Die Letzte Jungfrau, Hamburg and Köln, Germany (2003); The Last Virgin, Frankfurt, Germany (2006); Ostatni Zyd w Europie, Warsaw, Poland (2008); Europa utolso Zsidoja, Budapest, Hungary (2010); Die Letzte Jungfrau, Vienna, Austria (2011).

N.Y. Fringe Productions and Broadway/off Broadway Staged Readings:

My Name is Rabbi Meir Kahane, Theater for a New City; Men of the Lord at Circle in the Square; Money & Love at The Jewish Repertory Theater; The Blue Rope at T. Schreiber Studio.

Public Readings:

The Fat Spinster and Her Bunny Sister; Amongst the Tailed; Yesterday is Almost Gone; Every Man Needs a Woman; The Serpent's Kiss; Pope Haim Haimovits I; Two Very Intimate Friends; Squared Circles; The Old Man and His Young Assistant, The Russians Almost Came and others.

Directing:

SAIDA: A Tunisian Lobe Story, Press #93 for Kosher Jewish Girls in Krakow, Mountain Jews, Last Jew in Europe, Kabbalah, Love in Great Neck, Le Pere des Anges, The Suicide Bomber, Love Letters to Adolf Hitler, Father of the Angels, The American Jew, The Diary of Adolf Eichmann, The Last Virgin, Die Letzte Jungfrau, One Hundred Gates (Musical), Luboml, Hebron and others.

Journalism:

Essays and op-ed articles in leading European papers.

 

 

 

For readers outside of the USA, below please find samples of media articles about Tuvia Tenenbom in languages other than English:

In German, click HERE for Die Zeit and HERE for Jüdische Allgemeine. In French, click HERE for Le Mond. In Hebrew, click HERE for Haaretz and HERE for Maariv. In Italian, click HERE for Corriere della Sera.

 

 

 

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