A 5785 Purimshpil: Hopeful Notes from the Hellscape

In partnership with the Peretz Centre, Gliklekh in Goles invite you to an intergenerational purimshpil and other Purim festivities on Thursday, March 13th, 2025.

The Book of Esther is a classic Jewish tale that compels us question mainstream binaries of good versus evil, oppressor versus oppressed, beautiful versus ugly, straight versus queer, etc. set in the Achaemenid Empire in seventh century BCE. Since the 5th century CE, Jews have been celebrating Purim through a retelling of the Book of Esther in amateur theatrical performances. In Ashkenaz, they were known as “purimshpiln”. Like other Jewish ritual technologies, the purimshpil has also historically been used as a tool to reflect on and critique the worlds around us and wish for more hopeful, just, and loving worlds.

In these often scary times of growing global fascism and state violence, how might we use the Purim story to speak back to “us versus them” supremacist ideologies and imagine alternate worlds beyond tyranny? How might we do this while honouring the camp and clever subversions of the Yiddish theatre tradition in old-new ways?

GET OUT YOUR GRAGERS and join us for our intergenerational purimshpil: *HOPEFUL (we hope) NOTES FROM THE HELLSCAPE!* With a fresh script written by some of the most talented queer Jewish writers in our region, the play offers a contemporary retelling of the Purim story with some new characters and a cast of familiars. Who are our modern day Hamans? What does a beauty contest look like when it’s haunted by a political exile? Who were the gender rebels of 7th C. Shushan?

Content forecast: *lite* dramatic depictions of all the –isms and phobias (antisemitism/philosemitism, Zionism, trans/homophobia, sexism, racism, supremacism, fascism and colonization) along with queer joy and rebellion, intersectional feminist critique, dazzle camouflage, and some really annoying bros.

Schedule

6:00pm Doors open

6:30pm Hamantaschen competition

7:15pm Show starts

Costumes welcome (and gragers too)!

Attendees are welcome to bring their own food to meet dietary needs.

Admission

Buy your tickets early to minimize our nightmares about running out of food! Early-bird tickets are available at a discounted rate until Sunday, March 9th at 11:55pm.

• General admission (14+): $18

• Children (under 13): $10

• Seniors: $10

No one will be turned away for lack of funds! Tickets are also available at a "pay what you can" rate.

You can support this event by signing up to volunteer and/or selecting the "pay it forward" ticket rat

Fundraiser details will be available at the event.

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Art by Jess Goldman