The comedy/drama “Holes” is not explicitly a Jewish play, admits director Johanna Gruenhut.
But when asked if the themes of “Holes” connect with Jewish values and narratives, she says, “How could they not?”
Based on the award-winning 1998 novel and hit 2003 film of the same name starring Shia LaBeouf and Sigourney Weaver, the theatrical adaptation of “Holes” will be presented through Sunday, May 10, at Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert Street.
The play — which was adapted to the stage by Jewish author Louis Sachar — will be directed by Gruenhut, a Baltimore resident who is the former associate artistic director at Theater J in Washington, D.C.
“Holes” is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats IV who is sent to a correctional bootcamp in Texas after being falsely convicted of theft. The play explores such themes as boyhood, friendship, masculinity and racism.
At Center Stage, “Holes” is a work that is being developed and finetuned by constant revision and reinterpretation, says Gruenhut.
She says she finds herself frequently returning to her Jewish identity as a framework for how she approaches theatrical storytelling.
“For me, it’s inescapable,” says Gruenhut, a New York native who attended the Ramaz School, a modern Orthodox day school in Manhattan. “If you ask me about my identity, Jewish is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s just who I am.”
Gruenhut says her directing process and style generally begin with an interpretation; the meaning of a text is not immediate or fixed but develops gradually over time.
“The notion that texts are powerful, that texts have answers that slowly reveal themselves, that meanings and interpretations unfold the longer you sit with a text, that to me is a very Jewish belief,” she says. “The idea of going back to the same text over and over again, that exploration of sameness, is what we do constantly with sacred texts.”
That interpretive approach makes its way into “Holes,” which largely centers on fate, inheritance and the consequences of intergenerational family history.
“The story is built on a sense of destiny, of chosenness, but in a way that is tied to doing right by others, being part of a community,” she says. “To be destined not to be the best or to ascend, but to be destined to be part of something.”
For Gruenhut, that idea shifts the meaning of destiny away from individual achievement and toward communal and collective responsibility.
“Everyone has an intergenerational past casting a shadow on them,” she says. “I read Stanley and his family as reflective of a certain American Jewish experience. There is a fear that hangs over them as they struggle to build a life. He lives in the shadow cast by the family’s specific history, and the history is the kind that many American Jews share.”
In rehearsals, Gruenhut says she works closely with the creative team at Center Stage to build interpretation and story development.
“It’s dialectical. It’s conversation with the actors, with the designers, with everyone,” she says.
The production of “Holes” has required ongoing adjustments and experimentations as ideas are tested and revised in real-time.
“Nothing is as I thought it would be, but it’s also delightful that it becomes this other thing,” Gruenhut says. “You’re constantly learning how to look for exciting solutions.”
For Gruenhut, that kind of exploration reflects a broader openness and creativity in the rehearsal process.
“If you’re so closed off — ‘My way is the only way’ — then you don’t allow the artistic conversation to form,” she says.
Gruenhut distinguishes live theater from other forms of storytelling, particularly film, in terms of embodying a shared presence.
“A play is inherently different than a movie because you’re sharing it live with people in front of you,” she says. “We rely on imagination, like reading a book where your imagination takes over.”
Gruenhut hopes audiences take away from “Holes” a sense of optimism and faith.
“I want them to come away with a sense of reaching out a hand to the stranger, believing in the power of community and friendship. Hope, and holding on to each other. You’re always better with other people.”
For information, visit centerstage.org/events/holes/.
Harper Goldberg is a local freelance writer.
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