Yentl

The Heights Players presents Yentl, adapted for the stage by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Based on Singer’s short story, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy, the play follows the trials and tribulations of a young girl, Yentl, who defies tradition by studying The Talmud with her father, even though it is prohibited by the Torah. Through a lot of laughter, Yentl raises questions about how women in various cultures are banned from education, and the importance of pursuing one’s dreams at any cost, even if that means giving up on love. Raised by her father, a teacher, Yentl secretly learns alongside her father’s students until then he relents and teaches her in private. After her father dies, Yentl, unmarried and left to her own devices, dons traditional male garb and travels to another town to study the Torah with the other male students – all who accept her as one of their own. The complexity of the drama increases as Yentl realizes she’s in love with her best friend.