INTERVIEW: Communist blacklist is focus of solo play in NYC
Photo: A Jewish Joke features co-writer Phil Johnson in the starring role. Photo courtesy of Eric Woolsey / Provided by Richard Hillman PR with permission.
Writer and actor Phil Johnson is currently mounting the off-Broadway premiere of his serious play about comedy. It’s called The Jewish Joke and features a story about a Jewish MGM writer whose career is sent into turmoil when he appears on a Communist blacklist in the 1950s. Johnson acts in the piece and co-wrote the script with Marni Freedman.
Performances of A Jewish Joke continue through March 31 at Theatre Row in Midtown Manhattan.
“I’m not Jewish myself, but I grew up in a crazy, dour, Irish Catholic family,” Johnson said in a recent phone interview. “And Jewish humor for me was everything.”
When Johnson put pen to paper and started to craft a play, he settled on a character known as Bernie Lutz, who faces a real John Proctor-type moment in the solo piece. Does he worry about his friends or his livelihood when he’s faced with the political accusations of Communism?
“I’ve always been a person who sides with the underdog,” he said. “[And the play’s development] was bopping along, and I hooked up with a writing coach here in San Diego — one of the best, Marni Freedman. And she had, when she was in college, worked with people who had been blacklisted, so it was kind of a perfect match for the two of us. That’s how the play happened.”
A Jewish Joke has been presented in theaters before. In fact, the show won Best Drama at New York City’s United Solo Fest in 2016. This current production comes to the Big Apple courtesy of San Diego’s Roustabouts Theatre Company, which is co-run by Johnson.
“There’s a phrase in Judaism, tikkun olam … which means heal the world,” Johnson said. “Since I learned that about 10 years ago, I’ve tried to stick with that. How can I help repair the world? And this is about a very funny guy on the worst day of his life, and finally the play comes down to what will you stand up for in your life, which seemed to Marni and I the thing that needed to be said in these days of America right now.”
The performance piece is quite exhausting for Johnson, but he said the show is equally exhilarating. He genuinely loves both the character of Bernie Lutz and the journey he has been on with Freedman and director David Ellenstein.
“I believe in this story so much,” he said. “I think what I’ve gotten out of it personally is that sense of humor, that pragmatism. That’s what gets you through life. I think that’s a very important thing to know in life. His jokes are his life, so it’s called The Jewish Joke because he deals with jokes. And he loves each and every one of them, but something else that comes out is the strength and the ability to keep going on in the worst of situations.”
Johnson has been performing in plays since his days in high school, and he started seriously writing after college. Nowadays writing has become a professional love of his, almost on par with his acting career.
“Now I have a small theater company here in San Diego, and we put up original writers here in Southern California,” he said. “You realize [writing is] the way to actually figure out … what a writer gives to the world. I love that part of it. That’s something I love. My next piece I’m working is about Teddy Roosevelt with Marni Freedman, my co-writer, and we get to talk about what do we really all want in the heart of a leader. I love answering those hard questions.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
A Jewish Joke, co-written and starring Phil Johnson, plays through March 31 at Theatre Row in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
