About the Show

Written in 1989, this dark comedy about a husband leaving his wife is one of Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin's enduring classics. Presented by New Yiddish Rep in both Yiddish and English-language performances.

'The Labor of Love' begins with the hero getting his sleeping wife out of bed in the middle of the night to announce that he's leaving her after 30 years of marriage. The heartlessness of his desertion is evident even in the words with which he tries to comfort her: "Maybe you'll meet a widower, a real estate dealer from Los Angeles, and have a good laugh on me in America."

Critic Reviews (2)

"'Hanoch Levin Squared' is a magical back-to-back New Yiddish Rep presentation of two of Levin tragi-comic tours de force...'The Labor of Life' would have made a wonderful script for Groucho Marx...Brilliantly directed in both languages by Ronit Muszkatblit...In the future, anytime you hear about a Yiddish Rep production, listen to me, take a chance and buy yourself a ticket."
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"'The Labor of Life,' in Hebrew, consisting of marital cruelty and death, this time in bed and equally long, is performed by Sokolsky, Asher-Sandler and Rosen under the direction of Muszkatblit...The bigger question is, why? Why this focus on the theater works of Hanoch Levin? The New Yiddish Rep amply demonstrates its talents, devotion and grit, true, even as it amply demonstrates the rigor of Levin’s growing reputation but that does not answer the question."
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