“In the Belly of the Whale” August 16, 2008

In the Belly of the Whale
A solo performance by Jonathan Bender
Final Colorado Performances!
9 characters, 18 opinions, 1 actor

“In the Belly of the Whale,” a solo show on Jewish identity will have its final Colorado run, with six performances only, as part of the fourth Boulder International Fringe Festival, August 16-24. Whale’s January, 2008 premiere in Boulder completely sold out all performances, followed by a successful 3-week run in Denver this spring. After the Boulder Fringe, it will perform in the San Francisco Fringe Festival and is currently booked in San Diego and Houston.
Whale investigates what it means to be Jewish in America today. Written to create dialogue among Jews of all denominations (as well as non-practicing Jews) about the nature of Jewish identity, and to expose non-Jews to the diversity of the Jewish experience and identity. Explaining his passion to educate and entertain, Jonathan Bender stated, “Jews always have strong opinions about how they feel about being Jewish, but seldom talk about it. Whale is a provocative play designed to cause Jews and non-Jews alike reflect on how they’ve become who they are, and who they choose to be in the future.”

“In the Belly of the Whale” was created through interviews with prominent and diverse members of the Jewish community (in the style of) Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project. The show consists entirely of true stories, either verbatim from the 8 interviews, or from the experiences of the performer. The autobiographical work and interviewees are portrayed as nine characters and placed within a biblical setting, the belly of a whale. The show follows the journey of a non-practicing Jew who is confronted with trying to understand what it means to be Jewish, both as a religion and as a larger cultural experience. The performance also includes dance and spoken word.
Performances are 5pm on Saturday, August 16; 10pm on Sunday, August 17; 6:30pm on Tuesday, August 19; 9pm on both Wednesday, August 20 and Saturday, August 23; and 5:30pm on Sunday, August 24. The show runs 1 hour. The January performances in Boulder sold out quickly; reservations are highly recommended. Tickets are $12Adult\$10 Student and can be purchased by calling the box office at 720-563-9950 or online at www.boulderfringe.com.
Jonathan Bender, MS, MFA, also founder of WholeSpeak™ (teaching acting and public speaking throughout the United States and internationally), began his theater and public speaking career in the mid -1980’s, and started directing at the age of 18. After getting his BA in Dramatic Art and Anthropology from UC Berkeley in the early 1990's, he worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a director, speech and presentation coach, and acting teacher.
He left California to attend graduate school, first earning a Master's Degree in Performance Studies and Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he specialized in the study of everyday life as performance. Jonathan moved to Boulder, Colorado, to join the inaugural class of Naropa University's MFA program in Theater: Contemporary Performance. There he trained with such luminaries as Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project (renowned for The Laramie Project and I Am My Own Wife), Meredith Monk and The House, and the SITI Company, specializing in physical, ensemble-developed theater and the creation of new work. He has recently developed work in Seattle and Washington, D.C., and has been coaching clients and teaching workshops this year in Colorado as well as in Brazil. Plans are currently underway to translate Whale into Portuguese for a theatrical run in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
“In the Belly of the Whale” was workshopped as his MFA thesis production at Naropa in March, 2006 and presented at a national theater conference in Chicago in August of 2006. It was also performed at a 700+ person Jewish conference in New Mexico in July of 2007, prior to the January theatrical premiere. Jonathan Bender has participated in all three previous Fringe Festivals, teaching workshops, acting, and directing the highly successful Pirates in Corsets or PMS Pinafore in 2006. Jonathan currently resides in Boulder, Colorado.
More information can be found at www.bellyofthewhale.com.
Listing/PSA
Jonathan Bender performs
“In the Belly of the Whale”
A solo performance on the perplexities of Jewish identity today, with 9 characters, 18 opinions and 1 actor
August 16-24
Saturday, August 16, at 5 p.m.
Sunday, August 17, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, August 19, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, August 20, 9 p.m.
Saturday, August 23, 9 p.m.
Sunday, August 24, 5:30 p.m.
$12 General Admission; $10 Students & Seniors
Carsen Theatre at The Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder CO 80302
Call 720-563-9950 for tickets or online at www.boulderfringe.com
More info at www.bellyofthewhale.com