![\"Janis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Theatre-Ariel-300x225.jpg\")
Janis Dardais, Adam Pelta-Pauls, Mason Rosenthal and Susan Riley Stevens in \u201cMarsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup.\u201d (Courtesy of Theatre Ariel)<\/p>\n Janis Dardais, Adam Pelta-Pauls, Mason Rosenthal and Susan Riley Stevens in \u201cMarsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup.\u201d (Courtesy of Theatre Ariel)<\/p>\n
When it comes to telling classic and contemporary Jewish stories on stage, there are few that do it as well as Philadelphia\u2019s Theatre Ariel.<\/p>\n
Since 1990, the Center City company has been blending Jewish folklore and topical themes to make audiences laugh, cry and everything in between.<\/p>\n
And from March 12 to 22, a new play comes to Theatre Ariel that pledges to do both of those things and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup,\u201d a tale of an angry Jewish woman who is visited by an ancient Jewish ancestor with a pot of magical chicken soup, runs at Theatre Ariel this spring. The theater\u2019s Producing Artistic Director Jesse Bernstein, who directed and produced the play, said that this play meets today\u2019s needs of the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does our community need from arts and culture? It can be a few things. I think the main thing is that it refills your heart and your soul, and that you can do that through pieces that are focused on joy,\u201d Bernstein said. \u201cYou can do that through pieces that challenge you, that ask you to think a little deeper about who you are and the world you want to see. It\u2019s a mix of all that: how do I uplift? How do I challenge? How do I refocus?\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t your average show. \u201cMarsha Blovotnick\u201d first ran as a part of a series of three one-act shows last year. It was well-received, and Bernstein and the play\u2019s writer, Dan Kitrosser, as well as audiences, fell in love with the titular character.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hysterically funny, and part of me just wanted more. Marsha is such a unique, funny character. She\u2019s this angry socialist, lesbian \u2014 which you read and you think, \u2018Oh gosh, where are we going?\u2019 But she\u2019s delightful, and she is able to say things that we all secretly want to say, and it\u2019s funny to watch her say it,\u201d Bernstein said.<\/p>\n
After completing the first iteration, the team at Theatre Ariel also thought that there was more to explore in terms of Blovotnick as a character and symbol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also thought that there was more underneath, in terms of why she is angry. [Kitrosser] and I were talking about her, and we realized that her anger is actually getting in her way of connecting with people, of actually changing the world in the ways that she wants it to change,\u201d Bernstein said. \u201cSo part of what Dan and I have discussed as he\u2019s been working on the full length version of the script is exploring that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Bernstein, this work of contemporary humor with Jewish folklore blends so well largely because the writer behind it is talented. Kitrosser has worked on award-winning shows and films and has the ability to bring loveable characters to life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s great about Dan is he\u2019s hysterically funny, but he\u2019s also got this very tender side to his work, and he\u2019s capable of really making you feel something deeply, as well as making you have belly laughs,\u201d Bernstein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup\u201d will run on Wednesdays through Saturdays in mid-March at the Bluver Theatre at The Drake.<\/p>\n
Bernstein said the team that has been assembled for the show is a great one. The writing and acting is strong, but so is the lighting and set design. Without teasing too much, he said that the sets are in themselves worth coming for, as they have \u201cweird angles and colors and dimensions,\u201d and the props are largely inspired by pop-up children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n
For Bernstein, this journey began at a past playreading when he met Kitrosser. They realized they lived around the corner from each other, and a great working relationship was formed. It\u2019s not necessarily common for a one-act to evolve into something bigger, but this show was just too good, Bernstein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people just really related to Marcia. The laughter was infectious, and people just wanted more of that. And so it seemed like a no-brainer to take that one act and blow it up into something bigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n