Circumcise Me, One-Man Comic Play About Identity, Opens Off-Broadway

By Kenneth Jones
November 18, 2009

Boasting a title that might make men squirm, Circumcise Me, a new comedy written by and starring comedian Yisrael Campbell, will open Nov. 18 at Off-Broadway's Bleecker Street Theater. Previews began Nov. 1.

The limited engagement is produced by Evelyn McGee Colbert and Eva Price of Maximum Entertainment Productions.

The director is Sam Gold, whose current staging of Circle Mirror Transformation at Playwrights Horizons got solid reviews.

According to production notes, "Circumcise Me tells the true story of Yisrael Campbell, your average Irish, Italian, Catholic kid from Philly, who became a sober alcoholic, recovering drug addict, husband, father, reform, conservative, unorthodox, orthodox, Jewish comic actor. In his New York theatrical debut, Yisrael (born Christopher) takes the audience on an extraordinary spiritual, creative, and hysterically funny journey including, ouch, three circumcisions along the way."

The film "Circumcise Me," a documentary on Yisrael's life, is currently playing in film festivals around the country.

The creative team includes scenic and video design by Aaron Rhyne, lighting and sound design by Perchik Kreiman-Miller.

Campbell said in a statement, "It is thrilling to bring Circumcise Me to New York. The show will be running a quick subway ride away from where I studied 20 years ago at The Circle in the Square Drama School so I feel like I have come full circle. In the process, though, I changed my name, my religion, my nationality, my marital status and my size."

Bleecker Street Theater is located at 45 Bleecker Street just east of Lafayette Street.

Tickets for Circumcise Me range $25-$65 with premium seating available. Circumcise Me will play Wednesday at 3 PM, Thursday at 8 PM, Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 4 PM and 7 PM. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Telecharge at www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

For more information visit www.yisraelcampbell.com.

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Yisrael Campbell lives in Jerusalem. He was born Christopher Campbell, raised Catholic and grew up in Philadelphia. Although he attended Catholic school as a boy (his aunt was a nun and his mother was in the convent for a while), "Chris was destined to leave the Church." As a teenager, his recovery from substance abuse led him to a higher spiritual path, ultimately leading him to Judaism. Twenty five years later he remains sober, according to his bio. Along the way, Campbell studied theatre in New York City at Circle in a Square Theater Company and began performing standup comedy. He studied with Nikos Psacharopoulos (Williamstown Theater Festival) and Terese Hayden & Jacqueline Brookes (Actors Studio). As he began telling the story of his recovery and discovery, a unique voice began to emerge in his talks that was at once both familiar and highly original: it was a mixture of traditional storytelling and "spiritual"-related comedy. He performed a series of one-man shows including Bed Set by Gordy Hoffman, Einstein Was Right and It's Not In Heaven while undergoing his conversions (three in all) to Judaism: first from Catholic to reform, then from reform to conservative and finally from conservative to orthodox. Chris changed his name to Yisrael and moved to Israel. He also tours with The Palestinian-Israeli Comedy Tour, a group of comedians bringing awareness to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and seeking peace through comedy.