In Toronto’s crime-filled neighbourhood of Prohibition-era Kensington Market, a family of would-be gangsters try to support themselves by running a speakeasy out of their domineering mother’s basement. When a murder is committed and a job goes wrong, the family is suddenly flung into the high-stakes gangland world of American organized crime.
Set against the backdrop of the roaring twenties, the Great Depression, and one of the biggest riots in Canadian history, TOUGH JEWS is a historical drama about one immigrant family’s struggle to create a better future for themselves in a violent, prejudiced, and unforgiving city.
Produced at Kensington Hall, Toronto ON, 2017
6 Dora Award Nominations including Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Production
Winner, My Entertainment World Critic's Pick Award, Outstanding New Play
Keywords: Toronto, History, Judaism, Immigrants, Crime, Violence, Jewish
Genre: Drama
Run time: 120 minutes
Acts: 2
Male roles: 4
Female role: 3
NNNN
"Exciting and immersive, Tough Jews is really, as one of its characters might say, the cat’s pyjamas."
"Exciting and immersive, Tough Jews is really, as one of its characters might say, the cat’s pyjamas."
-Now Magazine
"It’s a funny and tragic adventure which explores hard questions of morality, intergenerational trauma, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their family... The show couldn’t be more relevant."
-Mooney on Theatre
"Viscerally stimulating, Michael Ross Albert’s Tough Jews is a dirty, violent, and often howlingly funny story."
-Torontoist
"It’s a funny and tragic adventure which explores hard questions of morality, intergenerational trauma, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their family... The show couldn’t be more relevant."
-Mooney on Theatre
"Viscerally stimulating, Michael Ross Albert’s Tough Jews is a dirty, violent, and often howlingly funny story."
-Torontoist
Cover image graphic design by Whitney Allen