Only One Sophie

Only One Sophie explores the rituals of a Midwestern American Jewish life through the eyes of twelve year old Michael, his siblings Pam and Richard, his grandmother’s brother Sam and his wife Clara, his grandfather Oscar and his side of the family, and the presence of his dead grandmother Sophie.

This family story is juxtaposed with a growing awareness of how things were changing in his family, his neighborhood, and the world around him as he comes to a deeper understanding of the part an individual history plays in defining one’s place in the broader culture. Through song and story, moving back and forth from a visit to the graveside in 2005 the 100-year anniversary of her coming to St. Paul as Michael, honoring his grandmother on the anniversary of her death, lights the Yahrzeit, he is taken back to her funeral in St. Paul in 1960. – and in flash backs to 1960, with the family gathering to sit Shiva at Michael’s house where they sat telling stories from all sides of the family with young Michael eagerly listening to every word; and to 1905 and Sophie’s “walk across Poland” to America.

Only One Sophie explores the young boy’s craving to understand his place in the world and by the end of the piece Michael learns about his family’s secrets, his true heritage, and how to let go. The work is steeped in the influences of Jewish Immigrant culture and traditions as they connect and conflict with a modern American Jewish upbringing.