Carolyn Dorfman created Mayne Mentshn as a tribute to her family, from her nuclear and extended family, to the human race at large. It is about a spirit and passion for life, people and truth. It is about life, death, survival and renewal.
Part 1: The Klezmer Sketch
In The Klezmer Sketch, Dorfman mines the exuberant, joyful, yet soulful quality of Klezmer music that inspired her to explore Jewish gesture, expression, ritual, character and values. She celebrates the uniqueness of the Jewish journey, and yet, the extraordinary universal connections that it engenders.
Part 2: The American Dream
In The American Dream, Dorfman addresses the complexities of living in and growing up in a European Jewish community in America. The problems represent the constant struggle of all immigrant cultures as they struggle to maintain the identity of their cultural roots while becoming a part of another, larger whole.
Running Time: 90 mins. (Mayne Mentshn is a full evening work.)
