Sarasota Jewish Theatre has had something of an up-and-down history, originating in the 1990s before shutting down in 2007 and then being revived in 2020. But lately, the ups have been more prominent, with the company enjoying a sold-out season last year and continuing to expand programs and offerings under artistic director Carole Kleinberg. 

This year, for example, beyond its mainstage season of three plays at the Sarasota Players, inside the Crossings at Siesta Key mall, SJT presented Newish Jewish Play Readings over the summer, debuting three new plays with Jewish themes. In October, it presents two fully staged short contemporary comedies in the program “We’ve Got Short Shorts,” onstage Oct. 10, 11 and 12, as well as a 60-minute adaptation of the play I Never Saw Another Butterfly (Oct. 17, 18 and 19), based on a book of artwork created by children at the Terezin Concentration Camp during World War II.

Plus, during the upcoming main season, Kleinberg, a longtime professor of theater, returns to her roots with “Be a Theatre Maven”—two-hour deep dives into the three plays filling the theater in February, March and April. And that’s still not all: With a program titled “Jewish Journeys,” SJT takes minimally staged productions into high schools, retirement homes, synagogues and more. It’s a lot for a company that began productions over Zoom due to the Covid pandemic.

The way Kleinberg tells the story of SJT’s revival, she started talking with friends after the 2017 white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. Feeling unsafe as a Jew, she suggested that it was “a really important time to have a positive Jewish voice in the arts. In a town that can support a Black theater [Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe] and an area that has 38,000 Jewish households, I thought there’d be support for a Jewish theater.”

She still feels urgency to the matter, too, because of the fading away of Jewish theater companies worldwide. “When we started, we joined an organization called Alliance for Jewish Theatre,” Kleinberg says. “At that time, in 2020, there were 160 Jewish theaters in the world outside of Israel. Today, there are 21 Jewish theaters outside of Israel. We are one of the smallest, perhaps the smallest.”

Some closures, she says, were due to the pandemic. But with at least two that took place recently, in Argentina, she says, antisemitism was the cause.

In Sarasota, she says, “People walk up to me after performances and say, ‘Thank you for bringing this to us.’ And truthfully, we do really good work, and we’re getting better every year.”

True to its heritage, SJT does not present performances on the Jewish Sabbath, meaning no shows Friday nights or Saturday afternoons. Instead, it offers a Friday matinee—unusual for theaters, but the most popular choice now for SJT audiences.

The 2026 mainstage season opens Feb. 6 with Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski, a true story featuring SJT favorite Michael Raver in a one-man show (playing two dozen characters in all) as Polish World War II hero and Holocaust witness Jan Karski. (In a rare coup, the play’s creators are allowing SJT to present the piece even though it’s touring with actor David Strathairn in the role.)

That’s followed by Charles Busch’s comedy The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, last seen onstage here at Asolo Rep some 20 years ago (opening March 6), and David Gow’s Cherry Docs, the first play presented by SJT via Zoom in 2020. Opening April 10, that play centers on a white supremacist who attacks an immigrant and is assigned a Jewish public defender. Cherry Docs will also be the focus of a Community Conversation April 21, with a panel including the actors and director.

“We try to use Jewish playwrights,” explains Kleinberg, “but the plays are universal themes.” Hence the company’s motto: “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Jewish theater.”

This season will be the last for Kleinberg as artistic director; turning 88 this month (September), she’s earned her retirement. “I want to give somebody else the sleepless nights,” she jokes. “But I’ll be on the board and will support the theater any way I can. And I’ll continue to do the ‘Maven’ programs, going back to being a professor.” Her replacement has not yet been chosen.

For more information about Sarasota Jewish Theatre’s shows, visit sarasotajewishtheatre.org; to purchase tickets, go to theplayers.org or call (941) 365-2494.