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Sept. 9, 2005
Fascinated by Cohen
Writer turns obsession into Fringe show.
BAILA LAZARUS
When Dina Del Bucchia first heard the soundtrack to Natural
Born Killers, one song in particular stood out for her and changed
her life. The year was 1994, the song was "Waiting for the
Miracle" by Leonard Cohen and the change in her life has led
her, more than a decade later, to create the play Not a Shiksa
for the Vancouver Fringe Festival.
Del Bucchia, 26, admits right from the start that she fell in love
with all things Leonard Cohen and, over time, her attraction turned
into an obsession. It's out of this obsession that Not a Shiksa
was born.
"As a result of my attraction to Leonard Cohen, I found Jewish
men attractive," she said. "I would see someone that looks
like him and I would say, 'That guy looks so hot' and nine times
out of 10, the guy would be Jewish."
That experience led her to create this play, which she describes
as being about exploring an obsession and trying to understand it.
"The character is trying to comprehend this obsession that
clearly is larger than life," Del Bucchia explained.
Asked about how she thinks the play will be received, Del Bucchia
said some people may be offended, but she wants people to know that
the production is really her own means of examining her fascination.
"I look at this more as a love letter to our relationship,"
she explained, adding that it is based on her own experiences but
had to be fictionalized in order to make her character complete.
"The play is a comparative study between exes, failed relationships
and Leonard."
Over time, she realized her attraction to Jewish men was simply
a manifestation of her attraction to Cohen and she was able to let
it go.
"The Leonard thing will remain in my life but the other part
had to go because it's unhealthy, making Jewish boys my little Jewish
trophies," she explained.
Del Bucchia also thinks that audience members might learn something
about their own life by watching the play. Perhaps they will ask
themselves if this same kind of obsession exists in their own lives.
"That kind of thing informs your life, rather than marks it,
if you deal with it correctly," she said.
Del Bucchia, who is studying English literature and creative writing
at the University of British Columbia, does not have extensive background
as a playwright, aside from some small-town community theatre and
a play she had published at the Brave New Playwrights Festival at
UBC. But she says she's been thinking and talking about doing a
play about her obsession with Cohen for so long that it had to come
to fruition.
Though she is not Jewish, Del Bucchia explained that she is using
the term shiksa (usually meant as a derogatory term for a
non-Jewish woman) as a pop-cultural reference, such as that seen
on shows like Seinfeld. She sees a shiksa as a non-Jewish temptress
who attracts Jewish men. Since she hasn't been successful in attracting
Jewish men, that makes her "not a shiksa." When I suggested
that some people might be confused by the title, since shiksa is
a term that usually refers to a non-Jewish woman, whether she attracts
Jewish men or not, Del Bucchia responded, "Well, I still have
the weekend to do some more writing if I have to."
The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs Sept. 8-18. For more information
and the festival schedule, visit www.vancouverfringe.com.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver.
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