![\"Floorwork](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Arts-4-300x200.jpg\")
Floorwork Arts Collective cast performing \u201cGreat Bends\u201d (Photos courtesy of Rebecca Neckritz)<\/p>\n Floorwork Arts Collective cast performing \u201cGreat Bends\u201d (Photos courtesy of Rebecca Neckritz)<\/p>\n
Rebecca Neckritz, the Jewish co-founder of Floorwork Arts Collective, a small theater company started in New York City, will perform in her company\u2019s immersive dinner theater production \u201cGreat Bends\u201d at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe audience is all in a living room together, all experiencing a dinner party,\u201d Neckritz said. \u201cNot only are you just sitting, watching the dinner party, but you\u2019re also eating the same food as the actors since it\u2019s an immersive dinner theater show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neckritz was born and raised in Philadelphia attending Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. She told Philadelphia Jewish Exponent that the play is rooted in Jewish values such as tikkun olam, taking care of the world, and l\u2019dor v\u2019dor, from generation to generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking care of the Earth is the central conflict between characters,\u201d said Neckritz. \u201cThey all have very different ideas about how to take care of the Earth and about how to move forward in the world that\u2019s, literally and metaphorically, flooding.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Floorwork](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Arts-1-200x300.jpg\")
Floorwork Arts Collective cast performing \u201cGreat Bends\u201d (Photos courtesy of Rebecca Neckritz)<\/p>\n
Neckritz\u2019s co-star, Mara Einson, is also Jewish and grew up in a Jewish community in Massachusetts, according to Neckritz.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also so many themes in the show that are all about the next generation, l\u2019dor v\u2019dor, passing down our values to our children,\u201d added Neckritz. \u201cIt explores our relationships that we have with children and the fears and the hopes that we put on the next generation and if it\u2019s fair to do any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play, created by Sarah Powers who was one of the collective\u2019s founders, is set in an American town that has been devastated by natural disasters.<\/p>\n
According to a press release, the story follows two former environmental activists who reconnect. The character Ness visits home and reconnects with Ona, who is involved in different activist movements, at a dinner party.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this multisensory experience,\u201d Neckritz said. \u201cYou\u2019re in this room, you\u2019re watching the show with your eyes, there\u2019s sound happening all around you, and you\u2019re also getting to taste the food from this dinner party.\u201d<\/p>\n
The food served during the show, according to Neckritz, is completely home cooked, provided by Floorwork Arts Collective. The menu will consist of Caprese skewers for appetizers and pasta vodka for the main meal. Neckritz said her mother is making homemade dark chocolate brownies for dessert.<\/p>\n
Neckritz said the biggest challenge of the production has been time. Neckritz works full-time at a Jewish nonprofit that supports Jewish graduate students in North America but finds time after her workday to fit in rehearsal time with the production team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very short rehearsal period,\u201d Neckritz said. \u201cI go straight from my 9-to-5 job to the rehearsal studio, and then I\u2019m rehearsing from 6:30 to 10 every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neckritz also mentioned the challenge of putting together the production on a budget.<\/p>\n
![\"Floorwork](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Arts-3-300x199.jpg\")
Floorwork Arts Collective cast<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are self-producing, we don\u2019t have any funders, we don\u2019t have any donors. It\u2019s just four artists trying to make their work happen all by themselves,\u201d said Neckritz. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest challenge, trying to figure out how to do everything on a very bare-bones budget, [but] we were able to get free rehearsal space since we won a contest for it in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the press release, the play explores how one\u2019s decisions can shape the future of the world and confront a world damaged by natural disasters. The play navigates grief, ideology, conversations about birth, loss and love, and is \u201ca mirror for broader societal tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat Bends\u201d will run from Sept. 19 to 21 at Studio 34 on Baltimore Ave. in Philadelphia as part of the Fringe Festival. Tickets and additional information about the performance can be found at PhillyFringe.org.<\/p>\n