‘Black Jew Dialogues’ Feb. 17

“The Black Jew Dialogues” will be performed as part of Black History Month at Cornell at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, in King Chapel. Admission is free and open to the public.

The comedy, written and performed by Larry Jay Tish and Emmy Award-winning actor Ron Jones, examines prejudice and multiculturalism by combining sketch comedy, improvisation, interactive video and audience participation. The performance is followed by a discussion with the performers.

In “The Black Jew Dialogues,” Jones and Tish take the audience on a hysterical and poignant ride through three days they spent together in a cheap hotel room discussing their own experiences, the history of their people, and why there has been a growing rift between the two groups since the early ’70s. Through their dialogue the audience gains insight to the true nature of prejudice and how our inability to face our own biases separate us in ways that we may not even think about. The comic journey begins in the Egypt of the Pharaohs and travels through Africa and Colonial times to present-day America.

The show premiered in 2006 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Its success prompted the development of the Black Jew Dialogues Curriculum, which focuses on the commonality that all Americans share including hatred, bigotry and bias.

For more information, contact Ken Morris, (319) 895-4484.