Is criticism of the State of Israel inherently antisemitic? What if said criticism veers into Israel’s right to exist or defend itself? Does the Middle East accurately fit within the dominant anti-colonialist narrative of the American progressive movement? What of the constant focus of that movement on Israeli actions when other countries receive far less attention? Is that indicative of latent antisemitism, or is it an accurate reading of current events?
Considering all that, what is the place of a Jewish American in the progressive movement, especially when it comes to its manifestation on U.S. campuses? Can you support Israel as a liberal Jew and still find a home there?
Nobody paying attention to global affairs at present can ignore these thorny questions, of course, certainly not with the U.S. propagating a war in Iran in close partnership with Israel. And if you want to find a play that will help you think through some of them, then Itamar Moses’ “The Ally,” now in its first Chicago production at Theater Wit, certainly wants to fit that bill.
In this COVID-delayed play, which finally made it to New York production in 2024, we meet a college professor named Asaf (Jordan Lane Shappell) who is asked by a student he likes (Baron, smartly played by DeVaughn Asante Loman) to sign a petition that protests against an incident of police brutality. Asaf is down with the core reason for the protest and, as a campus role model, there is pressure to sign from activists, including from a former girlfriend, Nakia (Sharyon Culberson). But Asaf notices a clause therein accusing Israel of being an apartheid country practicing genocide, which gives him pause as a Jew. Much of the play is dedicated to Asaf trying to figure out this conflict between his progressive views and his faith and sense of history, and also to airing the arguments about Israel that were dividing the left in the George Floyd era and continue to do so in 2026.
These are all worthy issues to ponder in the theater, and “The Ally” is a carefully plotted and even-handed play that will be of interest to many regular theatergoers; people around me were listening hard. But with all due respect to Moses, whose work I’ve always admired, this is also a drama that feels structured to air these questions rather than a piece wherein the questions flow organically out of its characters. In all fairness, the intense focus on all of this over the past three years probably has made the play, which was a courageous piece to write in 2023, feel less fresh.
Director Jeremy Wechsler’s Theater Wit production certainly has its moments, but it’s slow, overly mannered and rather meandering at times, as if its company was still looking for the artistic and intellectual center of their work that would lead them to higher stakes. Shappell is earnest and empathetic, but not as incisive and driven as the play really needs to maintain the requisite dramatic tension.
As a result, the show does not feel as three-dimensional as it should; the issues are aired and you can clock the characters’ positions on them, which are not without interest. Not by any means. But you never fully feel like you watching human beings in crisis.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
Review: “The Ally” (2.5 stars)
When: Through May 2
Where: Theater Wit, 1228 W. Belmont Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $18-$44 at 773-975-8150 and theaterwit.org