Mira Hirsch believes her desire to tell the world about Jewish culture is genetically encoded.
Her maternal grandfather founded the Jewish Community Center of Charleston, S.C., in 1945. Exactly a half-century later, the Atlanta actress and director created the Jewish Theatre of the South at the old Atlanta Jewish Community Center on Peachtree Road.
"From the time I was in first grade, I was sort of a self-proclaimed ambassador for the Jewish people, just standing up in front of my class telling them what Hanukkah was," Hirsch said.
But in December, Hirsch and the Marcus Jewish Community Center announced that they would disband the theater she founded in 1995. The organization wants to present more mainstream work —- beginning June 19 with "Jewtopia" at the 14th Street Playhouse —- and Hirsch wants to stick to her mission of discovering new voices and stories.
Opening this weekend, "The Last Schwartz" —- Deborah Zoe Laufer's comedy about family dysfunction and the death of Jewish tradition —- is the Jewish Theatre of the South's last production.
But this probably is not the last we've heard of Hirsch.
"I'm very optimistic about reinventing the wheel independent of the JCC," she said of her mission to spread the word about Jewish culture. The 43-year-old artist says she's having conversations with partners about creating a new Atlanta arts organization that would marry theater and film. "My personal goal is to be operational by 2009."
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