Village of Idiots combines human and humorous elements

Anyone who watches a healthy dose of American TV has chuckled at the exaggerated Yiddish accent of certain stock characters.

We enjoy listening and imitating the melodious singsong rhythm. But it’s not quite as easy to mimic as it sounds as former St. Albert actor Catherine Wenschlag discovered.

“I’ve been told I have a lovely French accent. But I need to move it north up the pole,” laughs Wenschlag (Much Ado About Nothing), now starring as the Rabbi’s wife in Walterdale Playhouse’s upcoming production of Village of Idiots opening Wednesday, July 6.

Rebbitsen, as the Rabbi’s wife is known in the script, is “the mother of the village. She’s the spiritual leader of the women. She loves her husband and is very supportive. She wants the whole world to fall in love and that’s her driving force. For the most part she’s very happy and wants everyone around her to be happy.”

Penned by Canadian playwright John Lazarus, Village of Idiots was mined from a book called The Wise Men of Chelm by Solomon Simon. A treasury of authentic Jewish folk tales, it was used as a teaching tool much in the same vein as Aesop’s Fables and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Recounted with an offbeat, cryptic humour, the droll folksy stories are interlaced with Lazarus’ original material.

The play is based in Chelm, a real city in Western Poland that more than a century ago was a shetl, one of an abundant number of Jewish enclaves where poverty and isolation was a breeding ground for naiveté and superstition.

Lazarus’ comedy unfolds at Chelm just as the Second World War is approaching. Yosef, a Russian army deserter, makes his way to the tiny village and is welcomed by the inhabitants. However, his sense of safety is short-lived knowing the pogroms are happening and the Russian army is advancing on its path of ethnic cleansing. But the Chelmniks, employing the wisdom of fools, see the world in a very unique way and have a few surprises in store.

Summing up the script, director Linette Smith (Steel Magnolias) says, “The stories reflect the human spirit. We don’t have to run away from problems. The simplest answer is often the one in front of us.”

Padded with physical comedy and all-out mayhem, the biggest draw for Smith was the play’s full-blown physicality. “The other challenge was capturing the heart and not losing it in the humour.”

For Smith this production has relevance both on the global scale as we see the results of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and on a more personal, neighbourly level.

“This play reminds us that we should be the first to welcome outsiders. When we start to see change, then it can become a global movement. And as artists we have to come together. If we don’t step forward, who will? If we laugh together, we can take that first step forward together.”