ResponsA

Performance at the Brian Lake Bowl Theater, April 7 2019. Katya Oicherman, Nooshin Hakim, Pedram Baldari, Boris Oicherman, Rachel Jendrzejewski. Original concept and text by Katya Oicherman. Curated by Boris Oicherman. Produced by David Harris. With support from Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Counsil.

Truth is produced in conversations. That is, truth is in flux: it depends on who is speaking to whom. Kitchen conversations, bar intimations, classroom debates, panel discussions, artist talks and interviews - those are just modes of the production of truth. The significance of any particular subject is not a given: we talk to each other to find out what is important to us. 

In Judaism, a conversation is a form of study and legislation. The Jewish law is historically accompanied by “sheelot ve tshuvot”, questions and answers, or responsa, wherein rabbis reply to questions, on subjects ranging from mundane to theological.

Respons-a! responded to that tradition. It is a game of special cards set to poetically and humorously address both mundane and “big” questions in everyday life and art.  Each of the 80 cards offered a set of different questions that one player asked the other. While the questions were predetermined, the answers depended entirely on the responding player.