Adam Gerber (Mendel the Chassid), Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Ruby Joy (Chaya), Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or)

Michelle Slonim (Jewish Mother 2), Goldie Zwiebel (Jewish Mother 1), Susan Slatin (Jewish Mother 3); Adam Gerber (Mendel the Chassid), Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Ruby Joy (Chaya), Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or)

Gabriel Sloyer (Dan the Man), Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or)

Michelle Slonim (Jewish Mother 2), Goldie Zwiebel (Jewish Mother 1), Susan Slatin (Jewish Mother 3); Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or), Gabriel Sloyer (Dan the Man), Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Ruby Joy (Chaya)

Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Zack Imbrogno (Eyal)

Time Out New York calls Sex and the Holy Land “an entertaining play” that could “resonate with people of all cultures.”

nytheatre.com writes, “quite outstanding. Weinstein’s dialogue is witty, clever, and a lot of fun. Whether you’re Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, or any other denomination (or lack thereof), you will certainly walk away laughing—and perhaps thinking a bit.”

Tablet Magazine says, “Melanie Zoey Weinstein, a 23-year-old playwright and performer, has pulled off an impressive feat with this play.”

All of our FringeNYC runs sold out or came close. Make sure to take advantage of your second chance to see Sex and the Holy Land as part of the FringeNYC Encore Series!

Sex and the Holy Land will have an additional 5 performances at the SoHo Playhouse (located at 15 Vandam Street) on:
Friday, September 11 at 7pm
Saturday, September 12 at 2pm
Saturday, September 12 at 10:30pm
Sunday, September 13 at 8:30pm
Tuesday, September 22 at 8pm

Tickets are $18 and are on sale now. Get them here before these shows sell out like our FringeNYC shows did!

“Went with no expectations other than to be entertained and to take part in the Fringe Festival. What can I saw, we were so taken and absolutely enjoyed the show. The actors and actresses, the simple yet totally significant scenery had us in awe. We laughed, we cried and we related to once being in our 20’s and going off to Israel to celebrate our youth as well as being parents and watching our children go off to celebrate their freedom and find their identity.”
-Pearl

“Melanie is not only a talented playwright, but a wonderful actress as well. As a matter of fact, all three girls were top notch actresses. It was interesting to peek into the psyches of today’s generation, which, as it turns out, is not so unlike the psyches of our generation. Her characters were beautifully developed revealing their confusion over Jewish identity, sexuality, responsibility, political ideology and coming of age. The play was creative, dramatic, heart warming and so very funny.”
-Sheila

“It definitely brought me back to my two years in Israel when I was 18-19.”
-Lori

Click on the links below to read all about it!

JERUSALEM POST: “Showing off their fringe,” 8/12/09

NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS: “Love in a warm climate,” 8/13/09

ARTSBEAT (The NYTimes Arts and Culture Blog): “The Fringe-y Days of August,” 8/13/09

JEWLICIOUS: “Israel is Sex,” 8/14/09

Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or), Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Ruby Joy (Chaya)

Ruby Joy (Chaya), Melanie Zoey Weinstein (Lili), Sarah-Doe Osborne (Or)

Photographs by Joshua Z Weinstein

Written by Melanie Zoey Weinstein
Directed by Lee Gundersheimer

Featuring Adam Gerber, Sivan Hadari, Zack Imbrogno, Ruby Joy, Adrian Kelly, Lyssa Mandel, Sarah-Doe Osborne,* Susan Slatin, Michelle Slonim, Gabriel Sloyer, Melanie Zoey Weinstein, Goldie Zwiebel*

SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam Street
New York, NY 10013
Take the C, E to Spring or 1 to Houston

Friday, September 11 at 7pm
Saturday, September 12 at 2pm
Saturday, September 12 at 10:30pm
Sunday, September 13 at 8:30pm
Tuesday, September 22 at 8pm

Composition and Music Direction by Noah Aronson
Set, Sound, and Lighting Design by Arthur Peters
Costume Design by Kate Rusek
Stage Management by Michelle Beige

Produced by Rachel G Karp and Melanie Zoey Weinstein.

An Equity Approved Showcase
*These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.

Happy Belly Productions presents
SEX AND THE HOLY LAND
What they didn’t teach you in Hebrew school

The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC)
A production of The Present Company

Saturday, 8/15 at 8:15pm
Monday, 8/17 at 8:45pm
Thursday, 8/20 at 10:30pm
Monday, 8/24 at 5:15pm
Friday, 8/28 at 2:00pm

The Players Theatre
115 MacDougal Street
FringeNYC Venue #8
Take the A, B, C, D, E, F, V to West 4th

Tickets: $15, go to www.FringeNYC.org

(New York, NY- July 30, 2009) – Happy Belly Productions is proud to present the WORLD PREMIERE of SEX AND THE HOLY LAND at the 13th annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). Written by Melanie Zoey Weinstein, SEX AND THE HOLY LAND is based on Melanie’s own journey of sexual and spiritual awakening in Israel.

SEX AND THE HOLY LAND is the tale of Lili’s plunge into a stereotype-shattering sexploration of Israel. Her two best friends and a string of Middle Eastern men lead Lili out of enslavement by the Greek Chorus of Jewish Mothers ruling in her mind. It is a coming of age comedy about liberation, religion, and love.

Marking 23-year-old playwright Melanie Zoey Weinstein’s New York debut, SEX AND THE HOLY LAND was inspired by Weinstein’s study abroad experience in Tel Aviv in Spring 2007, following the Second Lebanon War. “It was a time of disillusionment and questioning for myself and many of my friends,” said Weinstein. “We were experiencing Israel for the first time as adults outside of the Jewish institutions in which we were raised.” Weinstein’s questioning coupled with an impulse to create a fresh comedic piece about Israel resulted in SEX AND THE HOLY LAND, which had its first public reading in the University of Miami Black Box Theater. “The energy of the audience was outrageous—I knew that this play had to go further than college. I needed to bring it to New York and, some day, to Israel, too,” said Weinstein.

SEX AND THE HOLY LAND features Ross Buckley, Ruby Joy, Sivan Hadari, Zack Imbrogno, Adrian Kelly, Lyssa Mandel, Sarah-Doe Osborne*, Susan Slatin, Michelle Slonim, Gabriel Sloyer, Melanie Zoey Weinstein, and Goldie Zwiebel*.

Direction by Lee Gundersheimer, Music Direction and Original Music by Noah Aronson, Production Design by Arthur Peters, Costume Design by Kate Rusek, and Stage Management by Michelle Beige. Produced by Rachel G. Karp, Robby Sandler, and Melanie Zoey Weinstein.

An Equity Approved Showcase.
*These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.

Sex and the Holy Land Press Release.pdf