Special To The Jewish Week
Source: http://www.thejewishweek.com
The stomach, scientists say, is a “second brain,” a nervous system where learning, memory and emotion all take place. Liat Ron’s loosely autobiographical one-woman play, “Guts,” is the tale of a self-described “Israeli-American superwoman” named Hellthy who finds the intestinal fortitude to overcome an eating disorder, relationship problems and an excessive need for parental nurturance. An unusual mix of belly dance, multimedia and comedic narrative, “Guts” is currently running in the East Village in a production directed by Shoshona Currier.
One-woman shows about eating disorders have proliferated in recent years, including Amy Fortoul’s “This IS my BODY” and Cathy Plourde’s “The Thin Line.” But “Guts” may be the first play to take a Jewish perspective on eating disorders, even as many segments of the Jewish community, including the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, have seen a precipitous rise in these diseases. As psychologist Judith Ruskay Rabinor has written, the centrality of food in Jewish tradition often leads to emotional issues being interlaced with both dieting and overeating.
Ron, who was born in Israel to an Iraqi-Jewish mother and Russian-Jewish father, moved to New York at the age of 16. After studying theater at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, she starred in a number of downtown productions, including Israeli playwright Nissim Aloni’s “The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter” and Paolo Tartamella’s “The Busboy,” which was staged in an Italian restaurant. But after a wrenching break-up in 2007, she decided to move back to her parents’ house in Tel Aviv. Nine months later, she found herself attracted once again to New York, and she has lived here ever since.
...Continue reading here.
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What are your thoughts about the idea that the importance of food in Jewish tradition leading to emotional issues that may be related to eating disorder behaviors?
One-woman shows about eating disorders have proliferated in recent years, including Amy Fortoul’s “This IS my BODY” and Cathy Plourde’s “The Thin Line.” But “Guts” may be the first play to take a Jewish perspective on eating disorders, even as many segments of the Jewish community, including the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, have seen a precipitous rise in these diseases. As psychologist Judith Ruskay Rabinor has written, the centrality of food in Jewish tradition often leads to emotional issues being interlaced with both dieting and overeating.
Ron, who was born in Israel to an Iraqi-Jewish mother and Russian-Jewish father, moved to New York at the age of 16. After studying theater at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, she starred in a number of downtown productions, including Israeli playwright Nissim Aloni’s “The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter” and Paolo Tartamella’s “The Busboy,” which was staged in an Italian restaurant. But after a wrenching break-up in 2007, she decided to move back to her parents’ house in Tel Aviv. Nine months later, she found herself attracted once again to New York, and she has lived here ever since.
...Continue reading here.
********************************************************
What are your thoughts about the idea that the importance of food in Jewish tradition leading to emotional issues that may be related to eating disorder behaviors?
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