“Di Froyen” (The Women) is based on the play “Women’s Minyan” by Naomi Ragen, adapted for NewYiddish Rep by Melissa Weisz and Malky Goldman. Director is Rachel Botchan. This seven-character play is a story of a woman from the Hasidic community of Brooklyn who has fled an abusive marriage and, after being excommunicated and slandered, is being kept from her children. After two years, she gets a court order giving her visitation rights and returns with a secular Jewish social worker to enforce the order. She meets resistance from the women of her family and community until the story emerges that she has not actually abandoned them, but fled for her life from a prominent husband who has a history of abuse.  The women surrounding her are brought to realize what has happened. They ultimately unite to defend her and to empower women in their community suffering the same fate.

There is Yiddish in the play reflecting the evolving vernacular, sometimes characterized as “Yinglish,” that is spoken on the streets of Hasidic Brooklyn. Projected supertitles will enable non-Yiddish speakers to keep up.