The Golem, Methuselah and Shylock:
Plays by Edward Einhorn
Three full length plays plus a one-act about
legendary Jewish figures
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Edward Einhorn blends absurdist humor with philosophy in these critically
acclaimed plays.
Golem Stories retells the legend of a clay man in 16th
century Prague. Rabbi Loew creates a Golem to defend the Jews, but this Golem
seems more interested in listening to the Rebbetsin's stories and falling in
love with the Rabbi's daughter. Is he the reincarnated spirit of her murdered
lover? Or does his childlike façade hide the face of a demon?
In The Living Methuselah, the world's oldest man
has lived through the Flood, the Plague, Sodom and Gomorrah, Pompeii, and his
own extremely poor judgment, thanks to his wife Serach, the world's oldest woman.
Now age and a poor health regimen have caught up with him, and the doctor tells
him he won't make it past the end of the play. Afflicted with every disease known
to man, Methuselah fights on, flashing back in his delirium to former disasters
and fantasizing about having handmaidens. Will he survive? It ain't necessarily so.
Antonio says that Shylock was a capitalist. Jessica says that he was a Freudian
nightmare. Tubal says he was a good Jew. Whom is Jacob Levy to believe? Perhaps
Hamlet can guide him. Although this Hamlet seems to be a woman. In A Shylock,
a mild mannered professor is taken on a tour of Shakespeare's Venice, as he tries
to find his own answer to Shylock's legacy.
And in One-Eyed Moses and the Churning Red Sea, Rabbi Tzipporah Finestein is having
dreams that Moses is a pirate captain, battling Pharaoh on the high seas. Are they
nightmares, or more? Two congregants may be the key to an answer.
Trade Paper: $14.95, ISBN 0-9770197-0-5
Hardcover (laminate): $24.95, ISBN 0-9770197-1-3
"The story is engaging and the Jewish lore is appropriately and authentically woven throughout the text."
Kirkus
"Each legendary eponymous hero gets a turn in the spotlight, backed by a supporting cast of quirky characters
and a plot that is original, provocative, and, above all, humorous."
New Jersey Jewish News
"Einhorn’s take on each is indeed irreverent and quirky—and makes for good reading...Einhorn is an original
thinker and a gifted dramatist."
Jewish Post & Opinion
"This tongue-in-cheek look at some of the legends of Judaism is...a welcome addition to any dramatic collection."
Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
"This collection of plays makes for a wonderful introduction to Einhorn's work and reveals an incisive mind
which has a flair for injecting even serious and heart-wrenching tales with a deep-belly laughing humor."
Book Help
"Each play in The Golem, Methuselah and Shylock was written with meaningful intellect. These plays
can best be described as enlightening entertainment. I would love to see any one of them performed in my small town!"
Fantasy Novel Review
"The three plays display an ease of mind that induces thought and an introspection of the mind to the reader or viewer.
This is a strongly recommended read for all play enthusiasts as well to all Jews."
Midwest Book Review
"In it simplicity and directness, Golem Stories is a reminder of the supernatural
quality of the theater, which can transform the most basic elements of speech and
play into something magical."
The Jewish Standard
"The style is an absurd fantasy; and as the
best of the absurd genre, more than a hint of truth is borrowed from the real world."
Stage Pages