In Partnership with
The Endangered Species (theatre) Project

Presents: The Benevolent Sheva — a comedy by Richard Cumberland

Star-crossed lovers, a recalcitrant father, misunderstandings… and (of course) a comic servant!
 The Benevolent Sheva – a comedy by Richard Cumberland

First presented at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in 1794 and last played in America at the Bronx Free Synagogue in 1919.

The Benevolent Sheva by Richard Cumberland is credited with creating the first positive image of a Jewish man in the English theatre – as the hero – a stark contrast to the money-grubbing, evil Jewish stereotypes portrayed by such notables as Chaucer and Shakespeare.