Local News
How did an English performance poet develop such a keen interest in Jewish nuclear physicists?
By BERNIE BELLAN Readers of this website may have read an earlier story I posted about a Fringe play titled “THE KID WAS A SPY,” by well-known Fringe writer and performer Jem Rolls. (You can read that story at https://jewishpostandnews.ca/faqs/rokmicronews-fp-1/fringe-show-asks-was-giving-the-secret-to-the-atomic-bomb-to-the-russians-morally-justifiable/)
I was so intrigued by the notion that Rolls had written, not one, but three entire Fringe plays centering around the lives of individuals he described as “Jewish nuclear physicists no one has ever heard of” that I wanted to find out from Rolls what led to his interest in the subject.
We were supposed to have met for an interview while the Winnipeg Fringe Festival was still occurring but, as events transpired, Rolls got caught up with other things that required his attention, and wasn’t able to meet with me.
Still, he contacted me to apologize for not having been able to sit down for a conversation and said he would still very much like to engage with me about his interest in “little-known Jewish nuclear physicists.”
As it was, Rolls recently found himself with more time on his hands when he was in Saskatoon, getting ready for that city’s fringe festival which, he described in an email to me as “the quiet bit after and before the madhouses,” i.e., the Winnipeg and Edmonton fringe festivals.
A little information about Jem Rolls: He’s one of the veteran of the fringe festival circuit. His performing at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival was to be his 150th different fringe festival appearance.
Born in Surrey, England, “from 1996 Jem ran the only successful poetry cabaret in Edinburgh in decades and in 2001 he moved there and set up a very successful fortnightly cabaret, while running Scotland’s first Poetry Slams.
“In 2001 he did the Toronto fringe and nothing was ever the same again. Confronted by the possibilities and demands of the hour show, Jem gleefully exploded into the freedom of it. The Fringe circuit has very few rules and can provide the artists a complete liberation. Jem has been making a living creating a new hour show every year since 2003.”
I also found out from Rolls that in recent years he has been spending his winters in India. Quite the vagabond, he suggested that “all I need is a passport, a laptop, and a bank card.”
We did end up talking over Messenger on Thursday, July 31. I began our conversation by asking Rolls what led him to develop his particular interest in “little-known Jewish nuclear physicists?”
He explained that several years ago he “was stuck in Dauphin with not very much to read.
“I discovered a book about Nazi scientists,” he said.
That book happened to mention a Jewish physicist by the name of Lise Meitner. Rolls was sufficiently intrigued by Meitner’s story that he determined to find out more about her.
Later that year he found himself spending the winter in Edmonton. Rolls said he went to the University of Alberta to do some research on Meitner and came across another book that proved to be instrumental to his developing what would subsequently turn into three separate fringe shows. The book was titled “The Making of the Atomic Bomb,” by Richard Rhodes.
That book, which was first published in 1987, went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. It is described as the “definitive history of nuclear weapons—from the turn-of-the-century discovery of nuclear energy to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project—this epic work details the science, the people, and the sociopolitical realities that led to the development of the atomic bomb.”
Rolls’ initial interest in Meitner subsequently led to an interest in the life of Leo Szilard, who became one of five Hungarian-born Jewish physicists – nicknamed “the Martians,” who were all eventually to play key roles in the Manhattan Project and, ultimately, the development of the atomic bomb. The others were: Theodore von Kármán, John von Neumann, Edward Teller, and Eugene Wigner. Apparently a running joke among their Western colleagues in scientific circles at the time was that “Martians had landed in Hungary sometime around 1900 but soon departed after finding the planet unsuitable. However, these higher beings stayed just long enough to leave behind offspring, which turned into exceptionally brainy scientists, later nicknamed ‘The Martians.’ “
Without going into detail about the scientific work undertaken both by Meitner and Szilard in this story, suffice to say that Rolls was able to mine their stories sufficiently to create two separate shows about them: The first was “THE INVENTOR OF ALL THINGS, “about Leo Szilard, which Rolls first performed in 2015 (and then again in 2017).
In 2019 Rolls created a show about Meitner titled “THE WALK IN THE SNOW,” which he also performed in 2022.
(I should note that Rolls, who has now appeared at 150 different fringe festivals, performs a particular show repeatedly on the fringe festival circuit in any given year. As he explained, “the hard work is done three months before” a show is premiered, as he writes the material and rehearses it on his own prior to taking it before a live audience.)
Both those previous shows proved enormously successful for Rolls, garnering “multiple sellouts and five star reviews.”
Winnipeg audiences, however, have mostly come to know Rolls as a “performance poet,” something, as noted previously, he first brought to Canada at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2001.
Putting on a show in Winnipeg, however, has always been an especially pleasurable experience for Rolls because, as he put it, “Winnipeg is an excellent place where to find out how good a show is.”
Still, ever curious to try to develop new material, Rolls said that he doesn’t like to bring back shows from the past once he says to himself that he is done with them.
Thus, as he has now been performing his latest show, the aforementioned “THE KID WAS A SPY,” in front of audiences across North America this year, Rolls observed that he “may do this show again in another two years,” but then he’ll be done with it.
In my story about “THE KID WAS A SPY,” I noted how controversial much of the show was, having to do as it was with the fact that the protagonist of the show, Ted Hall, turned out to be a spy for the Russians. Hall did end up giving the Russians vital information about the development of the atomic bomb – and was never arrested even though both the FBI and MI6 in Britain had their suspicions about him.
During the course of the show, Rolls attempts to create a balance in the minds of audience members between the conflicting moral decisions that led to Hall’s actions. He was determined to help the effort to create the atomic bomb before Nazi German scientists would succeed in doing so, but he also wanted to keep America from having a monopoly on owning the secret to the atomic bomb – which led to his approaching the KGB and offering to hand over to them the keys to the bomb.
I asked Rolls whether he honestly thought that the Americans and the Russians could be put on the same moral plane – which is something he posited during his play? I also wondered about the very sympathetic treatment he gives to Ted Hall.
Rolls suggested that for him, “Ted Hall was a very likeable and sympathetic guy.”
But, I argued, when he asked audience members to vote on whether Hall was justified in doing what he did, the results were bound to be skewed heavily in favour of voting in Hall’s favour by the mere fact that fringe festival audiences are probably so much more left-wing than the general population.
Rolls noted, however, that the audience make-up for this particular show has leaned heavily older, and that a good portion of audiences would certainly have enough knowledge of history to be able to come to reasoned determinations about the relative moral culpability of America and the Soviet Union over the years. He also observed that Hall was not atypical among young American Jews in the 1930s. “There were an awful lot of radical left-wing Jews” around that time, he suggested.
“I spend 57 minutes trying to give an accounting that weighs the zeitgeist of the time,” he said, against our current thinking about the historical record of America and the Soviet Union.
“This show was quite a bit more difficult to do than his other shows,” Rolls said – especially his performance poetry shows which, he noted, “were funny.”
Even his earlier show about Leo Szilard, Rolls observed, had quite a bit of humour in it.
Given the heavily Jewish theme of each of Rolls’ shows about Jewish nuclear physicists, I asked Rolls whether he’s ever been approached to put on any of the shows by a Jewish theatre company. So far, he hasn’t, he answered, but he’s certainly open to the idea.
Local News
New Israeli restaurant opens in River Heights
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 6, 2025) It’s been a long time since our community has been able to welcome the opening of a restaurant that specializes in Israeli food.
That void is now going to be filled with the opening of The Green Falafel, at 1833 Grant (corner of Centennial – next to the Subway).
The restaurant is the fulfillment of a dream long held by the husband and wife team of Ariel and Eden Maudi, who have been living in Winnipeg the past 11 years.
Ariel, who was born in Israel and grew up in Beer Sheva, says that he worked in telecommunications in Ramat Gan for several years. He adds though that he had always dreamed of owning his own falafel stand in Israel, but life was difficult there and he decided to come to Canada as a tourist to see whether there were any opportunities here for him, Eden and their two young children.
Eden, who was born in Russia and moved to Israel with her family in 1996, stayed behind with the two kids, who were both pre-schoolers, while Ariel tested the waters in Canada first.
Ariel says he came to Canada as a tourist in 2013. His first stop was in Toronto, where he acquired his 1st class driver’s license. At the end of 2013 he moved to Winnipeg where he began working as a truck driver. Soon he found himself employed as a successful sales person at Vickar Nissan where, he says, he once achieved the status as the top car sales person in Canada. After working at Vickar Nissan for a number of years, Ariel began working as an installer for Bell MTS.
Meanwhile, Eden began working at a Walmart, later at the Costco on Regent.
But, when the opportunity to move into a space that had been previously occupied by another restaurant, but which had closed, became available, Ariel and Eden decided to open their own Israeli restaurant in an area that hadn’t seen Israeli food served since the controversial closure of Bermax Café in 2019.
The Maudis say that they will be serving a variety of Israeli dishes – all vegetarian, and that they will be fully kosher.
The “green” in Green Falafel, by the way, Ariel Maudi explains, comes from the cilantro and parsley that are added to the chickpeas. In addition, their pitas will be coming from Israel and will be baked fresh daily.
The Green Falafel will be open from 10-8 daily. Delivery will be available through Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Call 204-557-7837 for information.
Local News
Previews of shows with Jewish performers at this year’s Fringe Festival July 16-27
For show dates and venues go to winnipegfringe.com
By BERNIE BELLAN As has been our custom for many years now we try to find shows that have either Jewish performers or themes that would have particular appeal for Jewish audiences. Many of the Jewish performers at this year’s festival have been here before, but several are new. In no particular order here are blurbs about the shows we’ve found that fit the criteria I’ve just described. (By they way, if we’ve omitted a show that should be included in our list there’s plenty of time to get added to this post. Just drop me a line at jewishp@mymts.net.)
You’ve Been Served: A One-Woman Show About Divorce, Cults, and Coming of Age at Midlife
Noemi Zeigler
You are hereby summoned… to laugh, cry, and maybe belt out a Streisand number in solidarity. You’ve Been Served is a raw and riotous solo comedy by writer-performer Noemi Zeigler. It all begins when Noemi is served divorce papers on top of a garbage bin lid while taking out the trash—an undignified start to a full-blown midlife unraveling.
At 50, still clinging to her dream of becoming a singer, she falls under the spell of a music producer slash self-help guru, joins a spiritual cult, and, instead of landing a record deal, she lands in jail. Behind bars, with help from her long-buried inner child, she begins to reclaim her voice and her power. Turns out, dreams really do come true—just not the way she expected.
The show features vividly drawn characters—including a manipulative cult leader, a toxic ex-husband, and a jail guard named Roach who shares Noemi’s obsession with the fashion of Charlie’s Angels (the ‘70s TV version, of course.)
With salsa dancing, twerking, and a belting rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade, Zeigler dives into abandonment, reinvention, and self-rescue. As she confronts perimenopause, she discovers it’s not the end—it’s the new puberty. The show touches on grief, sexuality, and spiritual confusion, but Noemi’s childlike optimism asks: What if your breakdown is actually your breakthrough?
You’re good for nothing… I’ll milk the cow myself
Written & Performed by Natacha Ruck
France, 1981: The first socialist president is about to be elected and young Natacha is ready to implement her own political platform. But first, she has to take down the schoolyard bully,emasculate the rules of French grammar and make off with grandmother’s chocolate.
If you think you know the limits of Jewish mothers, evil grandmothers and transcontinental lovers, meet Natacha Ruck’s family. This true tale of three generations of women, facing three world wars, is equal parts hilarious, shocking and zany.
A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of Beauty and the Beast NEW WORK!
Written & Performed by Alli Perlov
Be our guest! Local high school drama teacher Alli Perlov is back for a tale as old as time. Can she sing? Not really. Can she act? That’s debatable. Will you laugh? Oh… probably.
Perlov plays dozens of characters, some human, some animal, and many objects, in a comedic exploration of Beauty and the Beast.
In an homage to this brilliant musical adventure, through witty commentary and unstoppable energy, Perlov aims to entertain an audience that isn’t forced to be there like her students.
Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie
Written & Performed by Melanie Gall
Take a trip around Manitoba. From the 30,000 ft. St. Adolphe snow maze to the Narcisse snake dens! After all, where else holds both the title of Slurpee Capital of the World and the Guinness Record for the most people simultaneously howling like wolves?
Deanna Durbin, Terry Jacks and Burton Cummings are among the many homegrown stars, and Hockey Sticks features their music along with original songs and the stories that make this province unique.
Starring Melanie Gall from past shows Piaf & Brel, Ingenue and Toast to Prohibition
Nerohilarity Exposed
Produced by Adam Schwartz
We all sometimes feel exposed, whether that’s as a fraud or a pretender.
The performers of the award-winning Neurohilarity show, Danielle Kayahara (Laugh Out Loud CBC), Carole Cunningham (Yuk Yuks, The Debaters), Adam Schwartz (Winnipeg Fringe) and Rollin Penner (Yuk Yuks, CBC, Rumors, Winnipeg Comedy Festival), apply a comedic spin to the experiences that make us feel insecure, stripping away the emotional weight with nittygritty jokes and stories that will have you laughing uproariously.
Brilliantly awkward.
A Lesbian in the Kitchen
Willow Rosenberg
Professional lesbian Willow Rosenberg takes you on a journey through the centuries, superstitions and tablespoons of her lifelong passion for baking in this spiritual successor to 2024’s Jenny Award-nominated A Lesbian in a Bear Store.
Whether you have a favourite spatula, bake once or twice a year, or live in constant fear of being told to “just fold it in”, this one-woman show about family, joy, tradition (but make it gay),
Judaism, comfort, home (but make it gayer*), love, chemistry and magic is for you!
*Who’re we kidding, it’s all gay!
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany
Written & Performed by Ingrid Garner
(Ed. note: Although Ingrid Garner isn’t Jewish, we thought the theme of this show might have a special appeal for Jewish readers.)
Based on Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir, this 16x internationally award-winning adaptation – performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner – details Eleanor’s youth as an American caught in Second World War Berlin.
Punctuated with humour and accompanied by cinematic sound and video, Garner embodies her ancestors in this coming-of-age odyssey, delivering an account of war that is more relevant than ever.
Reviewing The Free Press 2
Benji Rothman
The Winnipeg Free Press has run amok, reviewing each and every Fringe show over the past two decades without consequence or recourse. Now, it’s their turn… again.
In this refurbished work that debuted at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe, Benji Rothman once again takes the Winnipeg Free Press to task. In this (mostly) new, (hopefully) hilarious 45-minute show, Rothman dives deep into their past and exposes their faulty journalism, imbalanced reporting and, of course, embarrassing typos.
Local News
Jewish performers at this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10-13
The Black Sea Station
Long ago, there were the klezmorim, itinerant musicians who roamed the back streets of Eastern Europe, playing at parties for meals and a few coins. The sound they honed then was a visceral exploration of life’s joy, and its loss; they could whip audiences into a frenzy of dancing, or bring them to tears with the mournful wail of a clarinet. Today, Winnipeg’s own The Black Sea Station is carrying on this tradition. Featuring Daniel Koulack (bass), Victor Schultz (violin) and Myron Schultz (clarinet) — cofounders of seminal local klezmer act Finjan — along with Moldovan accordion wizard Nikolai Prisacar and multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink, the quintet transports listeners to a time and place long past. Through a mix of original songs rooted in history, and traditional tunes spun up with modern zest, they whirl through the exuberant klezmer sounds of their Eastern European heritage, tending the old ways with deep love and respect.
The Black Sea Station will be performing Sunday, July 13, at 1:00 pm in Snowberry Field.
Romi Mayes
Romi Mayes has taken some hard knocks in her life, but she’s never faded away. For more than 25 years, Manitoba’s first lady of blues-rock has been a lynchpin of the Canadian roots scene. She earned that position the old-fashioned way, through her gritty, passionately emotive music. With her sizzling guitars and full-throated rasp, the Juno-nominated performer howls and purrs through razor-edged lyrics, rocking out wherever she can find a stage. She’s long been one of the hardest-working musicians on the circuit, keeping a busy slate of gigs and mentoring up-and-coming artists to get a foothold on the trails she blazed. Now, after a nine-year hiatus from the studio, Mayes has put her scintillating sound back on record with her long-awaited seventh album, Small Victories — a return that leaves no doubt, no matter the ups and downs, Mayes is here to stay.
Romi will be performing Friday, July 11, at 1:00 pm in Burr Oak.
Leonard Podolak (with Matt Gordon)
Ireland’s Matt Gordon is a fiddler and singer, whose fleet-footed clogging and thigh-slapping hambone has taken stages by storm since the 1980s. Leonard Podolak is a virtuosic master of the clawhammer banjo, who for decades has whipped up some of Manitoba’s wildest roots parties with his band, The Duhks. Put those talents together, and they can promise you this much: we’re all gonna have a real good time. Longtime friends and musical collaborators, Gordon and Podolak deliver an exhilarating trip through old-time Appalachian music. Their performances seamlessly blend intricate instrumental lines with heartfelt singing and dazzling dance. They’ve teamed up on a few records over the years, including 2020’s bigband extravaganza Power Wagon: Live At Shanley’s. But the best way to experience this duo’s toe-tapping, hand-clapping chemistry is to see it live.
Podolak and Gordon will be performing A concert with a side of clogging Sunday, July 13, at 3:00 pm in Folk School.