An Evening at the Theater with Dr. Ruth
One of the ways I’m trying to learn about playwriting involves attending as much live theater as I can. If the plays in question focus on Jewish subjects and characters, so much the better.
This week, I was lucky to attend a performance of “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” a one-act play by Mark St. Germain that is based on the life of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (née Karola Ruth Siegel on June 4, 1928 in Germany). You probably got to know Dr. Ruth as a radio celebrity (as I did). But she’s had a quite an extraordinary life even beyond that. The play is all about that extraordinary life. (And speaking of extraordinary: I can’t explain quite what it was like to see the play with the real-life Dr. Ruth sitting directly behind me.)
If you have the opportunity to see “Becoming Dr. Ruth” I hope that you will do so. Meantime, you might enjoy this interview with Dr. Ruth on CUNY TV, occasioned by the play’s arrival at the Westside Theatre in New York.