Turmohel in Boston: the Queer Jewish Drag Troupe That We Need
This past summer was the debut performance of Turmohel: the only Jewish drag troupe in the Boston area. Their next performance is this Saturday, October 12th at Make Shift in Boston with the theme: Schtick or Treat.
Turmohel is pronounced like “turmoil” in reference to “mohel”: the person who performs circumcision as an important part of Jewish tradition. Turmohel is also a reference to their wild and boundary pushing performance style. And “Hebrew” originally meant “one who crosses over,” so crossing boundaries is also an important part of Jewish tradition.
When I arrived at their performance in July at the Armory in Somerville, MA, the show was just starting and the room was overcapacity. Several of us had to crouch and crane our necks in the hallway to peek through the doorway.
It was worth it. The performance was very Jewish, queer, weird, wild, and wonderful. And it was hilarious. My cheeks hurt by the end of it — that kind of hilarious.
The theme of the evening was a Jewish deli. And the costumes alone were a feast for the eyes. There were the golden eyebrows on Imma Goldman; the “Schtup Me” sign on the buttocks of Meshuggemama; the scantily clad and voluptuous Riv-Killa; and the purple mustache and flirtatious eyes of Prince Shpilkes. For one number, Ch’ai Treason towered over all of them on stilts while playing the part of gubernatorial candidate, and Sex and City star, Cynthia Nixon (more on that soon).
We also had MC Pickle clad in a tight green bodysuit introducing performers and using Yiddish words that some people understood. MC Pickle also took a bite out of a pickle during the performance: something which I’m sure would be considered treyf (not kosher) if the ancient sages had dared to imagine gherkin cannibalism. In between each song Miss Blintz crawled around on the floor wearing only a floral apron picking up detritus of debauchery from the previous performance. Her downcast face was covered in excessive make-up and a dark, thick beard.
Is that too much to keep track of? Here’s a full list of performers, their pronouns, their characters, and their characters’ pronouns:
Emma June Youcha, they/them = ch’ai treason, they/them
Hannah Nahar, they/them = Prince Shpilkes, they/them
Annelise Rittberg, she or they = Riv-Killa, she/hers
Abbie Goldberg, she or they = Imma Goldman, she or he
Harry Weissman, he/him = Meshuggemama, she/hers
Sivan Spector, she/hers = MC Pickle, our emcee
Ben Astrachan, he/him = Miss Blintz, she/herz
There were songs about matzah balls, getting a box to go, trying to find the bathroom, potato knishes, popping pimples, a complicated relationship with cheese, a chicken and the butcher who loves her, and Cynthia Nixon’s bagel order.
Yes, there was a song about one gubernatorial candidate’s decision to order lox, cream cheese, and capers… on a cinnamon raisin bagel. The song Can’t Fight this Feeling by Reo Speedwagon played as each ingredient learned to come together, accept one another other, and embrace.
That was the only explicit reference to politics during the show. But proceeds from the show went to help immigrants by donating to the Beyond Network (Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network aka BIJAN / Beyond).
I sat down with Ch’ai Treason, played by Emma June Youcha, after the show and they explained: “The Beyond Network organizes a huge bail fund to bail people out of ICE. They organize court accompaniment and pick up housing for people who are coming out of the detention centers: really trying to be there for people. We gave 54% of what we made to them: $235.”
Note: the 54% donation is derived from the Jewish tradition of making donations in increments of 18 (18 X 3 = 54).
And putting on this kind of performance can be political itself and scary: “We had the Kavod community safety team there for many reasons. You’re doing something that is a little scary, or that I’ve never seen anyone do before. When you perform Judaism and queerness so loudly or big! That’s something we really, really want to do and feel people are excited to see. But also, yeah, scary in our political moment.”
Ch’ai Treason said more about this political moment and why they all wanted to donate to an organization that helps immigrants:
“We’re living under a regime that is using ICE to separate families. ICE is horrible. We feel a moral obligation, particularly as Jews and as a Jewish troupe to be saying: ‘Putting people into camps and into detention centers is something that we know. We can’t sit idly by and watch.’ We can and should be creating and experiencing joy, but we can’t, I don’t know…. Our last song is, “Remember That We Suffered,” right? We can’t not engage with what’s happening around us and the world that we’re living in. People are being so violated. People are being ripped of their dignity by our state. That is not okay with us.”
The song, “Remember That We Suffered” is one of two songs Turmohel performed from the hit TV show musical “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (the whole series is available on Netflix).
Ch’ai Treason said they will quite possibly have more explicitly political songs in the future but for this performance they all knew the audience largely agreed with them politically. “And so that feels like the perfect place to say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to preach to the choir! I’m going to do my art or this random shit!’ ”
The troupe strongly encourages people to check out other drag performances in person and even on YouTube. Ch’ai had one suggestion in Boston: “Jacque’s Cabaret: ‘No Filter’ on Monday nights. They do a lot of weird stuff. They get so weird. Yeah, no filter is a great name for it. We felt really inspired.”
Ch’ai Treason had more to say about inspiration: “We have talked about that internally: in order to build a new world (because the one we are in is shit) you have to be able to imagine and create and play. I definitely see this as a way to queerly and Jewishly imagine and play. And I hope it inspires people to embrace that in themselves.”
Again, Turmohel has their second big show coming up this Saturday, October 12th at Makeshift in Boston at 549 Columbus Ave. You can find more info on their Facebook event page. Hopefully it will be a lovely treat a few days after the holiest and most somber day of the Jewish calendar: Yom Kippur which falls on October 9th this year.
The best way to keep up with the Turmohel is by following them on Instagram @Turmohel.
