By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
It’s January and it has been remarkably cold lately, so we need a very compelling reason to leave the house—especially after the sun goes down.
So here is not one, but three good reasons, right here at Pierson Playhouse on Temescal Canyon Road:
Laughter is (sometimes) the best medicine: short-term benefits are that it can relieve stress and soothe tension, according to Mayo Clinic, and long-term, it can relieve pain, improve the immune system, and lessen depression and anxiety.
It’s a short drive—or walk, depending on your location and commitment to warm clothes—with no traffic.
Seeing a show supports community theater, and, in the case of Theatre Palisades, that is a theater with more than 60 years of history in town.
The theater’s latest show, James Sherman’s “Beau Jest,” which kicked off its six-week run on Friday, January 12, is nothing short of hilarious, leaving the audience laughing out loud from start to finish.
“Sarah Goldman is worried that her Jewish parents will not be accepting of her WASP boyfriend, so she hires an actor to pose as a Jewish doctor she’s dating,” according to a synopsis provided by Theatre Palisades. “However, he turns out not to be Jewish either, but is so convincing in a role that he could just win over her parents … and quite possibly Sarah as well.”
The play, directed by Jonathan Fahn and produced by Martha Hunter, is led by Jasmine Haver in the role of Sarah Goldman and Jeff Coppage as Robert “Bob” Schroeder/the fictional Dr. David Steinberg.
Haver is a Theatre Palisades powerhouse: She previously led the production of “Bell, Book and Candle” as the main witch Gillian Holroyd—a debut role that earned her the theater’s Lead Actress Award in 2023. A vastly different role than her previous, Haver is not shy to reveal a wide range of emotions through her characters, which makes for a compelling performance.
This is the second time Coppage and Haver have shared the stage in lead roles: Their chemistry is palpable. They play well off of each other throughout the show, including a couple of times where they looked at each other in fits of giggles—sharing a moment in a budding relationship that felt raw and real.
The two were joined by Laura Goldstein, who played the role of Sarah’s mother Miriam in “Beau Jest”—a different dynamic than when she played Coppage and Haver’s aunt in “Bell, Book and Candle.” Goldstein, along with her husband Abe, a role taken on by Lou Saliba, also have an immense amount of chemistry. The family is rounded out by Sarah’s brother Joel, played by James Jobs.
When seeing the actors converge on stage, the audience feels as though they are transported to a real family’s home—they all bounce off of each other and talk over one another in a way that only people closest to each other can, and will, do.
Sarah’s original boyfriend, Chris, is played by Thomas McDonough—you don’t know whether you should root for or against him, but either way, he nails his role of the annoyed, but doting, boyfriend who doesn’t quite get what Sarah is going through.
In addition to much-needed comedic relief, the play also is heartwarming, and touches on topics that are current today. Without spoiling the ending, and what direction Sarah takes her life, the characters all grow and develop over the course of the show.
To catch a performance at Pierson Playhouse, the show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., as well as Sundays at 2 p.m., through February 18. General admission is $22, seniors and students are $20.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit theatrepalisades.org.
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