Bubble Schmeisis

Nick Cassenbaum could be telling us this story over a pint, as laughs roll easily with stories of embarrassing childhood memories. Checking in on us occasionally, he makes sure we’re up to speed with his words. The only thing that reminds us we’re not sitting with him at the back of a quiet pub is his outfit: a bath robe and a wrap.

The two Klezmer musicians orchestrating his story behind him are dressed the same way. Cassenbaum undresses as he prepares for his first schvitz, a traditional Jewish steam bath, peeling back layers from his story of identity and cultural preservation as he does so.

Bubble Schmeisis attempts to archive a specific identity in order to preserve a little part of it, in the worry that traditions are being passed down through generations less and less. With little visual aspect to the production until the very end, it’s all in the storytelling, the smile and the schvitz. While the pace lags occasionally, we wait patiently for him to pick up threads of the story as we know another guaranteed laugh is around the corner.

The final 15 minutes lift the performance, as anger and passion break through the calm, and one unsuspecting audience member gets up close and personal with the experience of a schvitz. Though there is nothing groundbreaking about this gentle one-person show, it is generous enough to share a slice of a specific East End Jewish culture in the hope that it will live on a little longer.