Jonathan Spector’s Brilliant New Play ‘Birthright’ Belongs On Broadway

We are coming off a very sad Broadway season for musicals but a fairly strong one for plays. On the off-Broadway front, it was a mediocre season for both. I won’t purport to have seen even half of what was offered, but I did see a lot of OB shows and wasn’t super impressed with any of them (except Data). Too many show are playing it safe. The stage used to be the place where ideas were debated, envelopes were pushed and where stakes were raised. Not so much of late.

Jonathan Spector destroys all that cautiousness and timidity with his bold, ambitious and ultimately transcendent new play, Birthright, which, not mincing words, needs to move to Broadway ASAP.

Why? Because it should be seen by the largest audience possible. And because everything about MCC’s production is already Broadway caliber.

Spector’s Tony-winning ensemble play, Eureka Day, while good, lacked the kind of bite that Birthright vampirically basks in. It’s on an entirely different level.

This piece of electrifying theater basically has six (sometimes seven) characters sitting around talking for around three hours (plus two intermissions) and I never once felt the running time. I could have spent another three hours watching these brilliant actors and listening to the perspicacious, sometimes provocative, often hilarious dialogue. As a matter of fact, my only quibble is that there should have been a fourth act, set either today or in the future.

Birthright centers on a sextet of Jewish Americans who take a “birthright” trip to Israel in 2006 and establish a bond (some stronger than others).

For those unfamiliar, Birthright is an all-expenses paid trip for Jews, age 16-26, to visit Israel. Some see it as a vital experience in a Jewish person’s search for identity. Others view it as a Zionism indoctrination plot. Still others look at it as a fun travel experience. We get all three takes in act one as our six protags converge three weeks after their trip to discuss the experience.

The reunion takes place at the home of no-nonsense Chaya (Zoë Winters). Her headstrong lesbian bestie from preschool, Izzy (Molly Bernard) arrives first and the two chat about the alcohol consumption and sexual exploits that occurred during their time in Israel. They also discuss their concerns that the virginal (until the trip, that is) Alona (Molly Ranson) has become enamored with an IDF soldier and might be about to make “Aliyah” (meaning relocating to Israel) for him.

We also meet the three male characters, the politically motivated Noah (Eli Gelb), who not-so-secretly crushes on Chaya, musician-wannabe Emerson (Nate Mann), the least religious of the bunch, and aspiring rabbinical student Lev (Hale Appleman), who everyone seems to get along with and who, during the trip, simply vanished.

Act two is set a decade later, very close to the time of the 2016 election, when the group gather to celebrate Alona’s nuptials (happening the very next day), but the set has changed, we are now in Chaya’s backyard, hot tub prominent. Lev and Noah are discussing the obvious eventuality of Hilary Clinton’s victory. Gads! Lev, who had dropped out of rabbinical school, has taken a break from the internet. Emerson is now an EMT and appears to be more directionless than ever.

Lev and Emerson discuss the perpetual yearning that we all seem to have and what it means to be a good Jew. Lev: “Nowhere does it say that…you have to believe in God. it does say you have to love God…”

Izzy is hung over from a night of drinking and has become even more of an anti-Zionist with certain misguided notions, “Left antisemitism…never does anything, it’s just people saying mean things. The only real actual dangerous antisemitism is on the right,” she professes. Suffice to say she and Chaya grow further apart.

In the final act, taking place after the October 7th Hamas-led terrorist attacks in April of 2024, thing bubble to a boil with now super left Izzy pitted against Chaya and Alona deciding to leave Israel and return to the U.S. A tragedy has occurred that brings those left behind together. And a character who seemed almost superfluous has become vital to the piece.

Spector and his director extraordinaire, Teddy Bergman, masterfully interweave the political and religious beliefs of the characters with authentic storytelling, so we never get a polemic or lesson in Judaism as much as an open dialogue and invitation to debate.. There is no attempt to provide any easy answers to the impossible questions brought to light, nor does the text lean in either extreme direction. The play exists in the nuances of discourse. But it is also about knowing history (as much as it can be known) and not simply relying on tweets and posts and TikTok videos to knee-jerk educate oneself and repost/retweet/share without caring about the veracity of what info you are being bombarded with.

There’s a telling scene where Izzy and Chaya are in the throes of an argument that begins with the (mis)use of the word genocide, then devolves into both characters flipping through their respective phones to pull up info to back up their arguments. It’s a keen statement on how social media has this stranglehold on most of our lives and shapes our too-often warped world views.

All the actors do outstanding work beginning with Winters who has charisma and charm to spare. She gives the kind of performance where her reactions are just as important as her actions, but she never scene-steals. She doesn’t have to. She is captivating throughout.

There was a bit of a casting shakeup when Abbi Jacobson exited the role of Izzy the night before the very first preview. Bernard, originally cast as Alona, stepped in as Izzy. In lesser hands, Izzy could have easily been a one-note, down-the-rabbit-hole, militant character but Bernard finds her shadings and vulnerabilities.

Ranson who was cast at the last minute as Alona, delivers a loving portrait of a concerned mother, wife and citizen, simply trying to do what is best for her family while remaining loyal to her chosen country.

Late in the play, Alona expresses a powerful honesty about Gaza, “I wish I did, but I just don’t have the space for them in my heart right now, not after what they did.” Ranson’s delivery is heartbreakingly potent.

Mann, Gelb and the beatific Appleman are all amazing and seize their respective moments nicely. Mann is particularly powerful in the final act. Watch my VIDEO chat with Mann HERE.

Broadway vet Liz Larson has a too-brief but indelible turn as Chaya’s very Jewish mother. She’s a hoot but isn’t just there for comic relief.

Try and get to the theater early, as you will need to go through a metal detector for fear of violence–sad but the reality in these horrifically anti-Semitic times. They’re also insisting on sealing all phones in pouches, something I detest doing, but until theatergoers learn to turn their phones off and keep them off, I get the necessity when there’s onstage nudity.

Birthright has been extended and is now running through August 23, 2026. For tickets visit: MCC.

And it will, hopefully, be Broadway bound soon.