Quantum Theatre’s ‘The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk’ Onstage at Rodef Shalom (Sun., 10/29/23)

THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK (musical) by Daniel Jameson. Quantum Theatre. Through Nov. 26

Dan Mayhak (playing Marc Chagall) and Zanny Laird (Bella Chagall) are the loving couple. (Photo: Jason Snyder)

First produced in London in 2016, Daniel Jamieson’s play is a musical mosaic of the lives of Marc and Bella Chagall; he the Jewish modernist painter whose flying figures (angels, cattle, young lovers) float in deep blue skies, she the poet (nee Rosenfeld) who fell in love with Chagall and wrote their life stories (pogroms, Moscow, Paris) in Burning Lights. Both born in the humble village of Vitebsk (now in Belarus), they met when twenty and married just as the Russian border closed for WWI. Quantum’s production of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk will be set to Klezmer, the simple, yet rich music most often associated with Jewish folk songs. Furthermore, Quantum’s revival of Jameson’s most popular work will be staged at Rodef Shalom, Oakland’s most prominent synagogue.

But you don’t have to be Jewish to love Lovers. Jamieson’s work is itself a floating vision of the artistic spirit, inspired by deep pain and soaring ambition. After all, art, like truth, is universal. Also honoring the Violins of Hope project, Quantum Theatre brings it all to life. 2 p.m. Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Avenue, Oakland. (C.P.O.)

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