Association for Jewish Theatre

Theatre is about telling stories and we’re betting you have a Jewish story burning inside you that you’d like to tell. Guess what? Others like you are bursting with stories and we’re ready to bring you all together to create a forum of Jewish culture, identity, and artistry.

The Association for Jewish Theatre exists to create a community of Jewish storytellers who weave tales of excitement, pathos, heritage, humor, and drama into theatre. Our conferences provide amazing opportunities for networking, job opportunities, having plays read and performed, exploring new ideas, and for overall theatre making.

But believe it or not we do something even more important. We build a community of extremely talented and creative people! At our recent and extremely successful conference themed ADAPTATION, TRANSMISSION AND TRANSFORMATION, we were enthralled by keynote speaker and adaptor extraordinaire Aaron Posner, at a sumptuous banquet at the Czech Republic Embassy. We were blown away by staged readings and solo performances by our AJT members, hosted by one of the finest and prestigious theatres in the country, Theater J, in Washington, D.C. And we were inspired by workshops and panel discussions that had us thinking and developing ideas for our own theatres all weekend.

Sure, we can show you the statistics. Through data collection we know that audiences of up to one million strong attend theatre and performances by AJT members at theatrical events worldwide.

But even more powerful is our ability to engage in a likeminded and supportive community. Connecting with each other fosters ongoing creativity, intellectual growth, exploration of new theatre, and a chance to delve into the Jewish soul.

We truly are the Jewish Imagination!

Below is a detailed list of AJT membership benefits along with rates for member theatres. Now is an opportune time to register and benefit from the discounted two-year rate.

Also below, please find a link to the membership form as well as more information on the conference. KEEP IN MIND THAT MEMEBERS RECEIVE A DISCOUNT ON THEIR CONFERENCE REGISTRATION. Feel free to email our coordinator Eli Taylor with any questions about AJT membership at entaylor18@gmail.com

Warm regards,

AJT Board

Association for Jewish Theatre Membership Benefits

• Discounts to the AJT Conference

• Website privileges

• Blogging about Jewish Theatre

• Access to the AJT ListServ

• Performance opportunities for the Solo Performers’ Showcase and Playwrights' Staged Readings

• Opportunities to join the newly formed "Young and Emerging Theatremachers" cohort

• Ongoing initiatives to develop new community

• Strategic visioning about the future

As an alliance of Jewish theater and performance makers, AJT creates networks, provides showcase opportunities, educates, and helps develop Jewish-related theatre with theatre makers worldwide. Membership numbers and reach has grown and more and more networking is taking place as a result of AJT and its conferences.

The discounted two-year rate extends through December, 2016 so take advantage of these rates for your 2016 and 2017 membership!

Current 2016 Rates I Year:

$ 118 Individuals

$ 25 Student

$ 218 US – Large Theatres (annual budget $100,000+ US$)

$ 175 US – Mid-Size Theatres (annual budget $50,000+ US$)

$ 118 US – Small Theatres (annual budget under $50,000 US$)

Current 2016 Rates 2 Years:

$ 200 Individuals

$ 36 Student

$ 400 US – Large Theatres (annual budget $100,000+ US$)

$ 318 US – Mid-Size Theatres (annual budget $50,000+ US$)

$ 200 US – Small Theatres (annual budget under $50,000 US$)

Use PayPal on our website under the membership section at www.afjt.com

to pay and email your membership form to entaylor18@gmail.com or send payment and membership form to: 8030A West Lyons St. Niles, IL 60714.

AJT’s next conference will be April 3-6, 2016 in St. Louis, MO. sponsored by The New Jewish Theatre.

This year’s theme is Redefining Jewish Theatre in an age of Multi-Culturalism.

This year’s keynote is Broadway director Kimberly Senior who recently directed Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize winning play DISGRACED. She has many other credits including directing THE WHIPPING MAN, MY NAME IS ASHER LEV, and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.

Hosted by New Jewish Theatre

St. Louis, MO

April 3 – 6, 2016

REDEFINING JEWISH THEATRE IN AN AGE OF MULTI-CULTURALISM.

In a world with more and more emphasis on multi-culturalism, it is time for the Association for Jewish Theatre to rethink issues of race, ethnicity and other societal issues vis-à-vis the notion of “Jewish Theatre.” The goal is to broaden the concept of Jewish theatre to become much more inclusive and to expose the universality of what we do by bringing in ideas of inclusivity, identity, multi-culturalism, etc. and to broaden the idea of identity and what it means to do or to be a Jewish theatre today.

There will be multiple workshops, panel discussions, etc. that will shed light on these important issues in addition to some very exciting events.

Some of the included events are

• A tribute to the late Theodor Bikel celebrating his life and his devotion to our cause.

• Exciting keynote speaker

• Playwright and Solo Performers showcase

• Special workshop using the Ferguson incidents to learn what the arts can do for areas like Ferguson, how theatre portrays these incidents, situations and people and how the residents of these areas want us as arts organizations to respond. Facilitators will be local activist Rabbi, Susan Talve and African-American activist Pastor Traci Blackmon.

AND MUCH MUCH MORE….

Dear AJT Conference Attendees:

We are pleased to offer rooms for a very discounted rate in St Louis at the Moonrise Hotel, a very chic boutique hotel. The special conference rooms are for a limited time only and a limited number, since we have to release any rooms we have not booked by a certain date in order to not incur a penalty. Please book as soon as possible. The rates for the conference dates April 3 - 6 are $129 - $139 per night depending on the size room. If you plan to stay before or after the conference the rates go up about $40 - $50 more per night. Any reservations received after February 5 will be subject to availability and may not be at the discounted group rate.

You may book and reserve by doing the following:

1. Calling the hotel directly and ask for in house reservations at 314-721-1111 and asking for The Association for Jewish Theatre Group rate

1. Going to www.moonrisehotel.com and filling in the appropriate reservation information on the left side of the opening screen. In the box labeled “Group Code” fill in your booking code, which is jewishtheatre16 and the reservation will be made at your discounted rate.

1. Emailing our reservations department at Reservations@moonrisehotel.com.

1. Always feel free to email me and I would be happy to take care of your reservations.

https://res.windsurfercrs.com/bbe/page2.aspx?propertyID=9017&langID=1&checkin=04%2f02%2f2016&nights=4&rooms=1&adults=1&child1=0&sortby=4&group=jewishtheatre16

We are looking forward to hosting you and your guests! SEE MOONRISE BROCHURE ATTACHED

Email: etaylor@afjt.com
Website: www.afjt.com
Location: 8030a West Lyons Street, Niles, IL, United States
Phone: 847-965-4283
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishtheatre/
Twitter: @ajttweets

President, David Y. Chack; Vice President, Doug Brook; Vice President, Hank Kimmel

Vice President, Aaron Henne; Treasurer, Susan Lodish; Secretary, Kathleen Sitzer. Sara Bookin-Weiner, Jordana Halpern, Ronda Spinak, Joanna Caplan, Noemi Schlosser

Ex Officio non-voting: Moti Sandak, Ellen Schiff, Robert Skloot. Honorary Member - Theodore Bikel. Immediate Past President, Mira Hirsch. Coordinator, Eli Taylor.