This was the third edition of the Metropolitan's "East Village Chronicles," focusing on people of note who lived in the Lower East Side, running June 22 - July 2, 2006.
Michael Bettencourt's Bintel Briv tells an interesting tale about two East Villagers who are barely known nowadays, Abe Cahan (who founded the Jewish newspaper, The Forward), and Lola Ridge, a poet who became a minor celebrity in the '20s. This play postulates a meeting between the two, and further hypothesizes that the collision of these lively and somewhat simpatico intellects might have led to the creation of their signature works, The Rise of David Levinksy (his) and The Ghetto and Other Poems (hers). Directed by Anne Beaumont, this features sympathetic portrayals by John Blaylock and Wendy Allegaert.
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