Uncle!

Uncle! is an experimental reimagining of the cultural tradition of the Purimspiel—the comic dramatization of the Book of Esther, performed in celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim. Through language, light, sound, and movement, Yanow shapeshifts in and out of a diasporic werewolf ancestor figure Uncle Mordechai, weaving together aspects of Purim, personal history, and the experiences of their actual uncle working as a pulmonologist during the initial decade of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In a ritual portrait of intergenerational loneliness and longing that draws from Jewish incantation, Yiddish theater, and drag performance, Uncle!toggles the thin line between humor and grief, reframing the narrative of Purim and prompting us to consider its significance today in relation to anti-Zionist and queer lineages of care and resilience.

Writer/Performer - Sacha Yanow
Director - Nemuna Ceesay
Associate Director - Samantha Estrella 
Lighting Designer - Alejandro Fajardo
Scenic Designer - Cate McCrea
Movement - Lluca Huatuco
Sound Designer - Isaac Silber
Instrumentalist/Composer - Lu Coy
Costume Designer - Azalea Fairley

Premiere February 22-24, February 29-March 2nd at The Kitchen, NYC.
Tickets HERE

Press:
Momus - On the Sense of Queer Loneliness: Sacha Yanow’s “Uncle” at The Kitchen, 2024
BOMB Magazine - Interview with Rachel Valinsky, 2024
Brooklyn Rail- Interview with Ksenia M. Soboleva, 2024

Previous work-in-progress appearances:
Wendys Subway, Brooklyn
Hurleyville Arts Center, Hurleyville NY
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA
No Microphone, Participant Inc & Hauser & Wirth, NYC
Weirdo Night, Jewish Museum, NYC
Benyamin Zev’s Succas Spectacular, MoMA PS1
Unprofessional Variety Show, NYC