TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Revisits One Family’s Passover Seders over Four Millenia with ‘In Every Generation”

By Ron Friedenthal

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is ringing in 2023 with the West Coast Premiere of Ali Viterbi’s “In Every Generation.” This celebration of Jewish tradition, following one family through four millennia of Passover dinners, past, present, and future, is both provocative and thought provoking. As the multi-generational, multi-cultural Levi-Katz family asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” they find they all have different answers as they struggle with questions of race and religion that have yet to be resolved. Maybe that is the perspective of watching  “In Every Generation.”  The theme of Passover is freedom and after all of this time, the question remains:  Will we ever be free?

It is obvious as the scenes developed that the Passover theme was used to show the importance of family, tradition, and the strength of Jewish independent thinking.  As the four scenes of the play unfold, they show the perspective of the family members, their lives and how they interact with each other throughout three generations.  The play also shows the importance of everyone following their own path, even it falls outside traditional norms.

Directed by acclaimed Armenian/ Israeli-American director Michael Barakiva, “In Every Generation” is currently being presented through February 12, 2023 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts,, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA.

TheatreWorks has assembled a talented cast for “In Every Generation.” Luisa Sermol returns to TheatreWorks as Paola Levi, a Yugoslavian-Italian immigrant. Previously, Luisa has  performed in TheatreWorks’ productions of “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” “Archduke,” and “They Promised Her the Moon.”  Also returning to TheatreWorks where he was seen in “The Pitmen Painters,” Michael Champlin plays Davide Levi, an Italian immigrant married to Paola. Cindy Goldfield plays Valeria Levi, Davide and Paola’s daughter and a first generation American. A San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Bay Area Drama-Logue Award winner, Goldfield returns to TheatreWorks where she was seen in “Another Midsummer Night.”

Sarah Lo makes her TheatreWorks debut as Devorah Levi-Katz, Valeria’s eldest adopted daughter. She reprises the role of Devorah after performing in the World Premiere of “In Every Generation” at Victory Gardens Theater. Olivia Hoffman also makes her TheatreWorks debut, as Yael Levi-Katz, Valeria’s younger daughter. Hoffman has performed at theaters across the country including Goodspeed Musicals, Hartford Stage, Theaterworks Hartford, Rebel Theatre Company, Warner Theatre, Playhouse on the Park, and the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art.

“In Every Generation” features scenic design by Nina Ball, costume design by Suzanne Chesney, lighting design by Kurt Landisman, sound design by Sharath Patel, and projections design by Rasean Davonté Johnson. Randall K. Lum serves as stage manager.

“In Every Generation” was first produced as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago, IL) and Olney Theater Center (Olney, MD. This new work has been hailed as “a universal tale of love, caring, acceptance, coping with adversity and achieving one’s goals”.

TheatreWorks is committed to creating an environment that is accessible for all audiences in its community. American Sign Language interpretation will be available at the performance of “In Every Generation” at 7:30pm Tuesday, January 31, 2023. In partnership with c2 Caption Coalition, TheatreWorks will offer open captioning (a screen displaying all dialogue and a description of sound effects) for the performances of “In Every Generation” at 2pm & 7pm, Sunday, February 5, 2023 and 2pm Wednesday, February 8, 2023. TheatreWorks is partnering with Gravity in offering audio descriptions to assist patrons who are visually impaired. This service, which includes a pre-show talk, will be available 8pm Friday, February 10, 2023; 8pm Saturday, February 11, 2023; and 2pm Sunday, February 12, 2023. (To utilize audio description, patrons should pre-register at (877)-662-8978 after purchasing tickets). Assisted listening devices are offered at every performance with no advance registration required. For more information about accessibility programs at TheatreWorks the public may visit TheatreWorks.org/venues/accessibility/

   For tickets (starting at $30) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.

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Photo caption: TheatreWorks presents "In Every Generation", currently performing through February 12, 2023 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. This West Coast Premiere charts one family's Passover Seders past, present, and future. Pictured (l to r): Sarah Lo, Michael Champlin, Luisa Sermol, Cindy Goldfield, and Olivia Nicole Hoffman. (Photo Credit: Tracy Martin)

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