‘Indecent’ To Air On PBS ‘Great Performances’ This Friday
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Talya Zax November 13, 2017
“Indecent,” Paula Vogel’s loving paean to Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance,” will get its own resurrection this Friday; a filmed performance of the play from its Broadway run will air on PBS’s “Great Performances.”
“Indecent,” which won two Tony Awards — including one for director Rebecca Taichman, a member of this year’s Forward 50 — was Vogel’s first play to be produced on Broadway. Prior to its spring and summer 2017 run on the Great White Way, the play was produced Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre.
The play is a blissfully imagined history of “God of Vengeance,” from its first explosive reading at I.L. Peretz’s Warsaw literary salon, to the infamous obscenity trial over the play’s lesbian kiss — the first ever depicted on Broadway — to Asch’s late-in-life disavowal of his first major work.
“’Indecent’ points to both the significance of ‘God of Vengeance’ and to the tragedy surrounding its creation, success, and ultimate New York rejection,” the Forward’s Jesse Oxfeld wrote, reviewing “Indecent” on Broadway. “And that rejection is the rejection of the different, the minority, the embarrassing, the other.”
“Indecent,” which will air as part of the “Great Performances” series “Broadway Best,” will join a roster of shows including “In the Heights,” and “She Loves Me.”
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
That’s why I’m paying it Forward, by matching $36,000 of reader gifts. It’s an investment in the Forward’s newsroom, to continue telling the American Jewish story with truth and independence.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
