An audio version of James Inverne's A Walk With Mr. Heifetz, which made its world premiere in January 2018 Off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre, is currently available for streaming through June 2 on YouTube.
The play imagines the moment after famed Russian violinist Jascha Heifetz performed at a concert in pre-Israel Palestine in 1926. Legend has it that he had a conversation with Yehuda Sharett, composer and brother of future Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett, which would inform an important conversation with the leader 20 years later.
Yuval Boim, Ed Stoppard, Richard Topol, and Mariella Haubs star in the audio version. Boim and Haubs created their roles in the Primary Stages world premiere in 2018. Stoppard played Jascha Heifetz at a London festival reading, and Topol took part in a workshop during the play's development period.
With much of the world in lockdown due to COVD-19, the recording was made under socially distanced conditions, using Zoom and other technologies.
A Walk With Mr. Heifetz streams for free to raise awareness for two Israeli charities, the AICF (America Israel Cultural Foundation) and Meir Panim. The AICF helps young Israeli artists when they need support; Meir Panim brings nutritious meals to Israel's poor with a special concentration on youth and Holocaust survivors.
In a statement Inverne said, "I think a lot of people are coming up with very creative ways to be helpful during this horrible situation. This play is at least partly about the role of art in society, and I felt that very literally art could perhaps be helpful at this point—if people listen to the play and are moved to donate to either or both of our incredibly worthy nominated charities."
A Zoom discussion between the playwright, members of the cast, and Yael Medini, the daughter of Moshe Sharett, is also available for streaming by clicking here.
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