2025-2026 Season
Classes for Theater Lovers
Deepen your knowledge or explore a new aspect of theater with our award-winning artists alongside fellow theater lovers. All Classes Will Be on Zoom.
On zoom
YIDDISH THEATER IN AMERICA with Caraid O’Brien
June 3 – July 8, 2025
Tuesdays, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
$275 / $250 for Theater J Donors and Subscribers
Registration Deadline: May 30, 2025
In this class, writer, performer and translator Caraid O’Brien shares the story of one of the most successful, diverse and influential theatrical movements in history – the Yiddish theater. In its heyday in the 1920’s, the Yiddish theater had over 11 Broadway-style houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, the oldest actors’ Union in America, and a roster of unforgettable talent including Molly Picon, Joseph Buloff, Paul Muni, Rudolph Schildkraut, Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky, Jacob and Sara Adler, Ludwig Satz, Aaron Lebedev, Stella Adler, Luba Kadison, and many, many others. This six-part series will cover the beginning of Yiddish theater in America, the Yiddish musical theater, the Yiddish literary theater, Yiddish radio, Yiddish cinema and the influence of Yiddish theater on American culture.
Caraid O’Brien has translated 8 plays by the Yiddish writer Sholem Asch into English, was a translation fellow at the Yiddish Book Center, received three new play commissions from the Foundation for Jewish Culture, and most recently received a commission from Theater J and Solas Nua in DC. Her one-person show – Land of My Soul: The Theater of Sholem Asch debuted at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2024. Caraid also co-curated the theater section of the Yiddish Book Center’s acclaimed new permanent exhibition Yiddish: A Global Culture with Sholem Asch’s great grandson, David Mazower. For examples of and articles about her work visit www.caraidobrien.com.
on zoom
PLAYS FOR TROUBLED TIMES with Sharyn Rothstein
June 4 – June 25, 2025
Wednesdays, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
$275 / $250 for Theater J Donors and Subscribers
Registration Deadline: June 2, 2025
We live in a chaotic social and political moment… the perfect time to read and reflect on plays that bring hope from other turbulent times and places. Together, we will delve into meaningful plays (from Inherit The Wind and Twelve Angry Men to Jeffrey and The Heidi Chronicles), that have sought to explore and spark dialogue on important issues with an emphasis on bringing light, sparking change and reveling in full humanity.
Sharyn Rothstein is an award-winning playwright and television writer. Her newest play Bad Books is a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere play, and will be produced at theaters across America this year. Sharyn is currently a writer and Co-Executive Producer on SUITS LA, the spin-off of the hit legal drama SUITS, for which she wrote and produced for five seasons. Sharyn was also a writer and Co-Executive Producer on AMC’s Orphan Black: Echoes, and has developed shows for Apple, AMC and Bravo. Her Helen Hayes Award-nominated musical adaptation of the beloved film Hester Street (with music and lyrics by Joel Waggoner) was produced at DC’s Theater J in the Spring 2024. Her play By The Water was first produced by Manhattan Theater Club and Ars Nova and was the recipient of the American Theater Critic’s Association Francesca Primus Prize. Her audio drama Deep Fake was recently released on Audible. Sharyn holds an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a Masters in Public Health from Hunter College.
on zoom
RISE OF THE SUPERHERO with Hester Kamin
July 21 – August 25, 2025
Mondays, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
$275 / $250 for Theater J Donors and Subscribers
Registration Deadline: July 18, 2025
Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! This class is an exploration of how Jewish immigrants created the most famous superheroes in the world, a dialogue about superhero stories as a revolutionary response to current events, and a deep dive into how pop culture became our way to speak about the unspeakable.
Hester Kamin (she/her) has served as Director of Education of six theatres around America and is proud to conceptualize and lead Theater J’s first education program. She is a director, choreographer, and writer, and her play about Holocaust survivor Sabine Van Dam, In Flight, toured to more than 7000 people and was honored with an ArtWorks Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Hester is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University (Phi Beta Kappa) and Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and has had the opportunity to be a theatre artist in France, England, Norway, Hawaii, and Samoa. She is currently in her second year at the Fred Rogers Institute, where she is studying the nature of curiosity. Learn more at www.hesterkamin.com.
By registering for our classes, you agree to our policies regarding refunds, make-ups, and more.
A Sample of Past Classes for Theater Lovers
DIRECTING – A PRACTICAL OVERVIEW
Taught by Aaron Posner, Fall 2024
You see plays. You love plays. You understand what the actors do up there, and you can see what the designers design… but what exactly does the director actually DO? What is the process that takes them from the first time they read a play through closing night. Award-Winning director and playwright Aaron Posner takes you through the process step-by-step using wonderful new plays by Jewish authors as examples.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THEATER J – A SEASON CLASS
Taught by Hester Kamin, Fall 2024
Want a deeper dive into our season? BEHIND THE SCENES is a window into the world of Theater J. Participants read season scripts and discuss themes, issues, productions, and how material and artistic choices resonate with them. BEHIND THE SCENES is facilitated by Education Programs Manager Hester Kamin with guest appearances from Artistic Director Hayley Finn, who will invite artists in the season into conversations about their work.
DC THEATER TALK
Taught by Holly Twyford, Winter/Spring 2024
Ready to see DC theater in a whole new light? Award-winning actor and director Holly Twyford leads us through a season, exploring four dramatically different shows. From comedy to drama, from musical theatre to reimagined classics, our extraordinary arts community is full of work that moves, surprises, and delights us. Holly lends her expertise to in-depth pre-show discussion of the scripts and animated post-show discussions that allow participants to experience DC theater as they’ve never seen it before.
THE LEADING EDGE: A ZOOM CLASS
Taught by Howard Shalwitz, Winter 2024
The Leading Edge is back by popular demand and with all-new material! This
extraordinary class is led by theatrical legend Howard Shalwitz, Co-Founder and
Artistic Director Emeritus of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, known for its
provocative and powerful new work. Howard has directed and performed in works
by American and international playwrights and received the prestigious Margo
Jones Award for his lifetime commitment to new plays. He now travels the world
with the Center for International Theatre Development, engaging with theatre
leaders in Poland, Hungary, and Russia. The Leading Edge is a front row seat to some of the newest trends in world theatre: participants watch and discuss outstanding examples of de-constructed plays, innovative works made with found text, and unexpected takes on the classics. They’re guaranteed to explode your idea of what theatre can be!
ADAPTATIONS: HESTER STREET AND STORYTELLING FOR THE STAGE AND SCREEN
Taught by Sharyn Rothstein, Fall 2023
Get an insider look into adapting source material for the stage and screen in this course taught by playwright and television writer Sharyn Rothstein (TV’s Suits, Right to be Forgotten at Arena Stage). This season, Theater J will produce the world premiere of the Rothstein’s stage play of Hester Street, based on writer/director Joan Micklin Silver’s film adaptation of Yiddish writer Abraham Cahan’s novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto. Using Hester Street as a jumping-off point, this class will dive deep into adaptation, source texts, and transforming art from one genre to another. Students will study several popular adaptations, experiment with creative exercises in adaptation from their own favorite films, podcasts, and written works, and explore the creation and pitching of adaptations for film and television.
PROSTITUTES, CRIMINALS, AND THE WALKING DEAD: SHOLEM ASCH’S UNDERWORLD TRILOGY IN TRANSLATION
Taught by Caraid O’Brien, Spring 2023
Sholem Asch is one of the greatest and best-known Yiddish dramatists and Caraid O’Brien is one of the foremost contemporary interpreters and translators of his work. In this class, you will dive into her rousing translations of three of Asch’s seminal works, God of Vengeance, Motke Thief, and The Dead Man, being published this spring by the Yiddish Book Center’s White Goat Press as The Underworld Trilogy. In addition to learning about Asch and his place on the world stage, this class will investigate questions like: How does a translator anticipate the author’s intent? In what ways do translations change to meet our contemporary sensibilities? Born in Galway, Ireland, O’Brien is a noted Yiddishist, playwright, actor, and extraordinary creative mind. Do not miss this unique chance to study Asch’s stirring portrayals of the human condition through O’Brien’s translations.