by Joel Elkins~

When I went to see the world premiere of Behind the Gates, all I knew about the play was its title and artwork on its poster and playbill, an iron lock inscribed with a Jewish star. I had no idea what it was about. When I saw the tagline (“A parent’s worst nightmare”), however, I had a pretty good idea.

Bethany Lieberman is a troubled youth, clearly rebelling from something, either over-permissiveness or under-affection or perhaps simply that disappointed look she sees whenever she looks into her adoptive parents’ eyes. As a last ditch effort to save their child, Mr. and Mrs. Lieberman send their daughter, kicking and screaming, to a program in Israel for wayward Jewish kids. Against her better judgment, she finds herself taken with the country, with the way people respect tradition and history. She finds it “cool” that people walk today on the same stones walked on thousands of years ago by Jesus and Abraham. One day at the Western Wall, she is approached by Rabbi Meir, a Haredi (ultra- orthodox) Jew, who invites her to a Sabbath dinner. Despite herself, she accepts. There, she witnesses a beautiful family meal, complete with the ritual of the blessing of the children, as well as of her, by the father. She respects the family’s brand of unadulterated Judaism, unlike that of her parents who pick and choose what to observe and what to believe in. But most importantly she is impressed by how respected women are as the most important members of a Jewish home. She loves being called a beautiful woman and, possibly for the first time in her life, feeling special.

This entire development occurs in the first twenty minutes or so of the play, consisting of one extended monologue, wherein playwright Wendy Graf and actress Annika Marks take the audience on an amazing transformative journey, reflected in a marked change in Bethany’s speech, attitude, appearance and even her name. It is an amazingly moving, powerful and effective beginning, auguring great things to come.

By now I’m expecting the play to delve into the inevitable issues of whether life really is better without the distractions of T.V., Internet and iPods, based on unquestioning faith and clearly defined roles. Or instead, whether the attraction of this lifestyle, like other cults, is in easy, reassuring answers aimed at people frustrated by life’s uncertainties. And, if so, is there anything wrong with that?

But instead, most of the rest of the play devotes itself to the parents’ search for Bethany (who by now has taken on the name Bakol) after she disappears from contact. Perhaps it is telling that during her entire transformation, while they are concerned about her, they never bother visiting, but continue to send money, satisfied that “at least she is not on drugs.” It is only after her physical disappearance that they even bother flying to Israel to find her. This search, including hiring a private investigator and arguing with the American Embassy, disappointingly consumes the bulk of the play’s attention.

The acting is good, but not great. Unfortunately, the most intriguing character (and engaging actress) all but disappears for most of the show. James Eckhouse and Keliher Walsh do fine jobs as her parents but cannot maintain the magnificent aura created during the opening scene. Tom Beyer is totally miscast as the American attache, and Steven Robert Wollenberg as the Israeli P.I is in desperate need of a dialect coach. Robin Roth and Oren Rehany were much more convincing, albeit in smaller roles.

What at first promised to be a valuable spiritual quest for a lost daughter turns into a much more mundane physical search. In addition, what might have been – and at first showed signs of being – an evenhanded look at the Haredi movement at the end becomes a one-sided denunciation of the entire lifestyle. The subject deserves more.

Behind The Gates is performed Fridays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 pm through June 3. Panel discussions follow the May 23 and June 6 performances

The Marilyn Monroe Theatre is located at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center at 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., just west of Fairfax.

Ticket prices: $25

Reservations online at www.plays411.com/Gates or by phone at (323) 960-5772