THEATER and THEOLOGY

Scholar, Production Designer

Rabbi Dr. John Krug is a true Renaissance man. He was the Assistant Producer of the world’s longest-running musical, The Fantasticks, from 1974 until its closing in January 2002. He served, for ten additional years, as the Production Consultant/Assistant Director for The Fantasticks' revival, until its closing in June 2017. In addition to more than 250 production credits in the past 49 years, as director, production consultant, set designer or lighting designer, he has directed an award-winning show for NBC and consulted for multiple Broadway productions and national touring companies. In addition to his semicha, he holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and speech/drama, Masters degrees in psychology and Jewish education, a doctorate in clinical psychology, a post-doctorate fellowship degree from Bar Ilan University, and is licensed and in private practice as a clinical psychologist. Dr. Krug wrote his post-doctoral thesis on “The Use Of Drama And Theatrical Technique in Informal Jewish Education,” an often-cited work. He served as a teacher and as the Dean of Student Life and Welfare at the Frisch School in New Jersey for about thirty years (and, of course, he ran the Drama club there), and he served as the Yeshiva College Dramatic Society production designer and assistant director for decades.

Scholar, March 1st performance

Maury Kelman received his ordination from Yeshiva University and his law degree from Osgoode Hall, and did graduate work in Jewish Philosophy and English Literature. Having previously served as the rabbi of congregations in the USA and Jerusalem, he is now the rabbi of Or Hadash in Jerusalem’s German Colony. Rabbi Kelman believes strongly in building warm and welcoming Jewish communities, reflecting both the sophistication and beauty of Judaism. As such, one of Or Hadash’s core missions is to help all Jews, whatever their background, connect to one another, strengthening each other and bringing a bright light upon the broader community of Jerusalem. Motivated by the same ideology, Rabbi Kelman also founded and chairs Kedma, a Jewish student organization that strengthens gap year students’ Jewish identity and helps them integrate into Israeli society, and directs Route 613, an Orthodox conversion program that helps graduates successfully integrate into the larger Jewish community.

Morrie

Yehoshua Looks has a background in acting and directing. Most recently, he appeared in Theatre in the Rough's Shakespeare Monologues, Merchant of Venice (Antonio), Julius Caesar (Mark Antony), and As You Like It (Oliver/Lord), as well as CBDB Productions’ My Name is Asher Lev (Jacob Kahn/Uncle Yitzhak), Theater Zion’s The Value of Names (Benny Silverman), and Rhinoceros Productions’ The Lady of Larkspur Lotion (Mr. Chekhov). Yehoshua also happens to be a rabbi with semicha from Rabbi Dovid Ostroff. 

Mitch

Simon Stout has a B.Sc. in theatre education and worked as the associate assistant director of Young Actor's Theater, in Canada, for 5 years. Simon has performed in over 25 productions, most recently as the eccentric Eloi in Rhinoceros Productions’ Auto-da-Fé. His favorite roles include Margaret Mead in Hair, Joe Summers in The Lottery, and Henri Fortin in Les Misérables. His directing credits include CBDB Productions’ My Name is Asher Lev, and productions of The Monkey’s Paw, and Variations on the Death of Trotsky in Toronto.

Director

Yael has been involved in the Israeli English-speaking acting scene for 18 years. She is currently an MFA student in Performance Art at Tel Aviv University, expecting to graduate in 2025. She is also a graduate of Matan's Ayanot program and the Ruti Tamir Physical Theater Workshop. Yael has taught theater at Midreshet Emuna v'Omanut, and drama at Midreshet Darkaynu and Yachad to adults with special needs. She was a member of the David Cardozo Academy think tank, run by Natan Lopes Cardozo, for thirteen years. Yael runs Bibliodrama workshops for Jewish and non-Jewish groups. She also guest-directs for other theater companies, most recently Rhinoceros' Productions' production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2023). She works as a voice actor, and you can hear her (though you won't recognize her voice) in seven Disney Junior and Fox Network BabyTV series, with another two currently in production. Check out her voice reel here. Yael also runs interactive workshops on theater. You can read her paper on the challenges of mixing theater with theology, published in the theological journal Perichoresis, here.

Producer, Rhinoceros Productions

Miriam Metzinger Founded Rhinoceros Productions in 2022. She is a playwright, actress, and singer based in Jerusalem. She studied acting and playwrighting at HB Studio New York, and Classical Languages and Literature at Oxford University. Her first play, Lapse, was produced at Franklin College and Oxford University and was awarded a High Commendation rating at the Oxford Cuppers Theater Festival. Her second play, Low Ceiling, was produced at the Burton Taylor Theater in Oxford, U.K. and at Kenyon College. The Women of Lemonfield was given a staged reading at H.B. Studio New York. She also writes fiction; The Invisible Chassidishe Maidel was published in the Kenyon Review in 2014. Metzinger has also written a book of essays, Halfway Down the Stairs, and The Law in Indiana, a biographical novella. She was awarded the John Crowe Ransom Award for Poetry at Kenyon College. Metzinger's latest play, In a Stranger's Grave, produced by Theater and Theology, sold out every performance of its 2017-2018 run.

Stage Manager

Alexa is a directing student at Tel Aviv University. Outside of the university, she has written and directed plays for Jerusalem's Crossroads Theater and has stage-managed many English-speaking productions in Jerusalem -- most recently Theatre in the Rough's Julius Caesar.

Photographer

Karen Feldman is an artist well-known in the Jerusalem English-speaking theater community for her stunning theater makeup and her astonishing and creative photography. Her artistic eye is in demand by all the JET companies. Pore over some of Karen's quirky, surprising, deceptive, humorous, and impactful art photography here.