Circumcise Me

Yisrael Campbell
writer/performer

Yisrael Campbell lives in Jerusalem. The journey that led him to The Holy Land began a long time ago in a place far, far away: 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.

Along the way, Chris studied theater 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" comedy.

Chris 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.

Yisrael also tours with The Palestinian-Israeli Comedy Tour, a group of comedians bringing awareness to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and seeking peace through comedy. Most recently, a documentary film has captured Yisrael's unique story and chronicles his life in the soon-to-be released film "Circumcise Me."

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Sam Gold
director

Recent credits: Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons), Betty Shamieh's The Black Eyed (New York Theater Workshop), Nick Jones and Raja Azar's Jollyship the Whizbang (Ars Nova), Noah Haidle's Rag and Bone (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Alena Smith's The Sacrifices (Summer Play Festival), Sam Forman's The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall (Stage 13), Sam Mark's The Joke (Studio Dante), Colin McKenna's The Secret Agenda of Trees (Cherry Lane), Rogelio Martinez's Fizz (The Ohio Theater), Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (NYU Grad), and Anne Carson's translation of Sophocles' Electra (Williams College). Sam is a teaching artist and guest director at The Juilliard School where he directed Beau Willimon's Farragut North and War Story, Sam Hunter's I Am Montana, Marlowe's Edward II, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Lanford Wilson's Book of Days, Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, and Suzan-Lori Parks' In the Blood. Sam has developed new plays at American Conservatory Theater, Clubbed Thumb, The Lark, Manhattan Class Company, Manhattan Theater Club, The Marin Theater, New York Theater Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, The Ojai Playwrights Conference, Primary Stages, The Sundance Theater Lab, The Vineyard Theater, and The Yale Repertory Theater. He is a recipient of a Princess Grace Award, a Theater Hall of Fame Fellowship, and is a Wooster Group Associate Artist, a Drama League Directing Fellow, and a New York Theater Workshop Usual Suspect.

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Eva Price
executive producer

is the producer and general manager of Maximum Entertainment Productions, a company in NYC founded by Avram Freedberg, MaryBeth Dale, and Eva Price. Credits include, Broadway: Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, The Addams Family(Spring '10), Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking (Fall '09). Off Broadway and National Tour: Irving Berlin's I Love a Piano, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, The J.A.P Show: Jewish American Princesses of Comedy, Los Big Names (Drama Desk Nomination), Private Jokes Public Places, Joy, Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona The Musical.

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Aaron Rhyne
video/set designer

is a video artist and director specializing in theatrical video and projection design. His designs include Jerry Springer: The Opera (Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House), the current revival of Stephen Schwartz' Working (The Old Globe and Asolo Rep), Frank Wildhorn's new Bonnie and Clyde (La Jolla Playhouse), The Civil War (Ford's Theatre), Amiri Baraka's Dutchman (Cherry Lane), The Last Five Years (Asolo Rep), The JAP Show (Actors Temple), Topsy Turvy Mouse (Cherry Lane), Flags (59E59), and Monica Bill Barnes' Suddenly Summer Somewhere (Dancepace at St. Marks Church). He is currently developing a one-woman show with Rue McClanahan called, My First Five Husbands and the Ones That Got Away. He has done extensive video work with Caden Manson's Big Art Group and has toured with them through Europe and the U.S. with The House of No More and Flicker. He directed and designed InsideOut, which was nominated for an Innovative Theatre Award. Other directing credits include the The Living Person as part of Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge, Playing House (HERE), Glued to Grammy (HERE), and Princess Ivona (Polish Cultural Institute). Additionally, Mr. Rhyne directs music videos, commercials, and performance projects for television. He is a graduate of Fordham University. www.aaronrhyne.com

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Annie Levy
associate director

is a director, collaborative performer and educator. Selected New York directing credits include The Stanford Meisner Theatre, HERE Arts Center, 78th Street Theatre Lab, Untitled Theatre Company #61, Vital Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source and The José Quintero Theatre. Her devised work includes Six Seeds: The Persephone Project at the Old Stone House and The Creation of Comfort and Chance at the Makor Visionaries Festival. International credits include The Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh, Scotland), Discoteca di Storia (Rome, Italy) and Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada). Annie is the resident director the Northwoods Ramah Theatre Company. Past credit include The Jewish Wife, by Bertolt Brecht, The Hero of Kabul by Marc Goldsmith and company created The Underwater Palace, The Jewbird, The Knight of Onions and The Knight of Garlic and Garden. Walk. Wonder. She is a member of the ritual theatre company Storahtelling, where she has directed over 10 traveling shows, including Becoming Israel and Like a Prayer, and served as the Resident Director for the company. She is the recipient of a Steven Spielberg Fellowship in Theatre Arts Education, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival directing assistantship and is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. She is currently an adjunct professor of theatre at Pace University and SUNY-WCC and a teaching artist with the Manhattan New Music Project. www.annieglevy.com

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