Speed Levitch's The Birth of the New Ghetto

Juliette Bennett interviews Speed Levitch about his radio play.

As a Zionist leader, Theodor Herzl's a natural. As a playwright, he's a putz. As a husband? Oy. From the streets of Vienna to the Shtetls of Galicia to the promised land is a heck of a long walk. You want we should bring an extra pair of shoes, maybe? 

The one thing Theodor never wanted to be was a journalist. But now his journalism has taken him into the thick of fin-de-siecle antisemitism, and he's reacting in bizarre ways.

The future posthumous founding father of Israel is finding the wrong kind of success. On the bright side, his golden parents are still supporting him on his travels. On the not-so bright side, his wife Julie is still his wife. 

The 20 year old playwriting-prodigy-in-his-own-mind, Theodor Herzl, has finally scored his pitch meeting with the acclaimed theater director, Friedrich Mitterwurzer and as Theodor describes the fictional play he's written, we find ourselves wandering into the world of his play for real and end up at Theodor's fraternity party.