Indecent

In 1923, after highly celebrated and groundbreaking productions in Europe, Sholem Asch's drama God of Vengeance finally opens on Broadway. What European audiences had found brilliant, dazzling and moving, Broadway audiences respond with shock and disgust. The entire cast is arrested and charged with obscenity. Suddenly this evocative work of Jewish culture that explores religious hypocrisy among other social issues, is a cause célèbre. 

In 2015, inspired by the controversy of God of Vengeance on Broadway, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel debuts a play about this explosive moment in theatre history. Premiering at Yale Repertory Theatre, she calls her play Indecent. Combining music, song, dance and comedy, Indecent takes us behind-the-scenes to tell the true story of this forgotten controversy. The play explores the nature of theatre, anti-Semitism, censorship, politics, homophobia and true love.

Indecent is immediately praised as gripping and wildly entertaining. The play opens in New York at the prestigious off-Broadway Vineyard Theatre. In 2017, it transfers to Broadway, where its reception is the opposite to the one that greeted God of Vengeance almost a century ago, winning two Tony Awards.

In October 2022, Indecent will have its long-anticipated Toronto premiere. This Studio 180 Theatre production, directed by Joel Greenberg — the same company and director who have created such successful past Off-Mirvish productions as Clybourne Park and Oslo — will feature a cast of 10 of the country’s finest artists who will portray more than 40 characters as they bring to dramatic life this story about the transformative power of theatre.

Cast:

Matt Baram, Jonathan Gould, Jessica Greenberg, Tracy Michailidis, Dov Mickelson, Sarah Orenstein, Nicholas Rice, Emilyn Stam, John David Williams and Laetitia Francoz-Lévesque.

Artistic Team:

Director: Joel Greenberg
Set Designer: Ken Mackenzie
Costume Designer: Michelle Tracey
Lighting Designer: Kimberly Purtell
Projection Designer: Cameron Davis
Sound Designer: Thomas Ryder Payne
Head of Props: Chynah Philadelphia
Score and Original Music: Lisa Gutkin 
Stage Manager: Laura Baxter