Class Notes: Teddy Bergman, director of “Birthright”

Summary

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BroadwayRadio: Class Notes

Guest: Teddy Bergman, Director of “Birthright”

Date: August 5, 2026
Host: Lauren Klasschneider

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Episode Overview

This episode of BroadwayRadio’s “Class Notes” features an insightful conversation between Lauren Klasschneider and Teddy Bergman, director of the acclaimed play “Birthright” at MCC Theater. Bergman discusses the play’s evolution, collaborative process, and the unique challenges and triumphs of bringing a sprawling, time-spanning story about friendship, identity, and community to life on stage.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Genesis of “Birthright” and Initial Impressions

• Introduction to the Play
  • “Birthright” follows a group of six friends reuniting after a 2006 Birthright trip to Israel. The story unfolds over 18 years, delving into identity, community fracturing, and the challenge of sustaining connections across differences. (00:46–01:10)
• How Bergman Joined the Project
  • Bergman and Jonathan Spector (playwright) share an agent, Die Glaser, who introduced them in November 2024 shortly after Spector’s first draft.
    • “The play comparatively has had a very short gestation period…We start rehearsals the very beginning of March of 2025. So it was very quick…an amazing collaboration.” – Teddy Bergman (01:16)
• First Reactions upon Reading the Script
  • “I thought it was extraordinary. Immediately, you know, it had them all. ...He has an incredible ability to write character. People just pop. His characters just pop off the page in the most incredible way.” – Bergman (02:15)
  • Notes the first draft was “sprawling and so ambitious and so funny...I was hooked.” (02:58)

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2. Development Through Productions & The Heart of the Play

• Miami Production & Lessons Learned
  • Miami New Drama premiered “Birthright” in 2024. The experience clarified character arcs spread over 18 years, zeroing in on essential moments of change.
    • “We also really learned a lot about the arcs of all these characters...bringing those people into greater focus...felt most specific about each of them as three-dimensional people.” – Bergman (03:24)
• At Its Core: Friendship
  • While addressing big issues, the play is fundamentally “about a group of friends.” (03:56)

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3. The Challenge of Casting Across Time

• Three Acts Across Decades
  • Acts are set in 2006, 2016, and 2024. The cast must convincingly age from their early 20s to late 30s/early 40s.
• Casting Philosophy
  • Priority on authenticity and chemistry: “Creating something that felt like a realistic group of friends…that they all felt very unique from one another…a vibrant slice of life.” – Bergman (04:49)

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4. Staging, Runtime, and Audience Engagement

• Three-Hour Runtime
  • Currently runs three hours with two intermissions.
  • “The whole thing goes by in a heartbeat…I've sat through 70 minute plays that felt a lot longer. ...It’s three episodes, it’s three moments, it’s three snow globes...as you fall in love with these people, you really feel, you just enjoy…the time you spend with them.” – Bergman (06:15)
• Handling the Length
  • If the play holds attention, “they're good to be with you…If you're not, they'll want to get out of there real fast.” (07:20)

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5. The Value of MCC Theater’s Support

• Why MCC?
  • MCC’s mission to spark post-show conversations deeply resonated with the play's themes.
    • “Their commitment to work that spawns conversation and that engages an audience after they leave the theater…permeates every cell of that place.” – Bergman (07:54)
  • MCC’s heads are “two of the greatest casting directors…when we’re putting something together that is so dependent on performer chemistry, that was a fabulous collaboration.” (08:36)
• Rehearsal and Production Involvement
  • MCC staff attended readings, workshops, and previews, giving feedback and holding the team accountable for excellence.
    • “They were there kind of so in lockstep with us. It was really fabulous.” – Bergman (09:05)

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6. Memorable Rehearsal Moments & Characterization

• Discoveries During Rehearsal
  • On aging the characters: With actors in the in-between ages, they focused not on “acting young,” but on the seriousness of their circumstances at each age.
    • “The way to do it is not to try superficially to act like that age, but actually just to take the given set of circumstances...incredibly seriously.” – Bergman (09:50)
  • “What they're dealing with is life and death. It is the stakes of it. ... It’s only as you get older do you realize…there's more time, there's more life to live.” (10:44)

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7. The Importance of Generational Perspective

• Role of the Parental Character
  • Liz Larson’s portrayal of Deborah, a parent present throughout all acts:
    • “She’s this sort of bellwether and reminder for the group. ...So funny and so warm and has such wisdom to offer as well. It's a great kind of ballast...for the community.” – Bergman (11:34)

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Notable Quotes

• “People just pop. His characters just pop off the page in the most incredible way.” – Teddy Bergman on Jonathan Spector’s writing (02:18)
• “It’s three episodes, it’s three moments, it’s three snow globes. They each have their own kind of rules and their own propulsion.” – Teddy Bergman on the play’s structure (06:39)
• “Their commitment to work that spawns conversation…and engages an audience after they leave the theater…permeates every cell of that place.” – Bergman on MCC (07:54)
• “The way to [play characters at different ages] is not to try superficially to act like that age, but…to take the given set of circumstances that you’re in incredibly seriously.” (09:50)
• “She's this sort of bellwether and reminder for the group…so funny and so warm and has such wisdom to offer.” (11:34)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:16] — How Bergman joined “Birthright”
• [02:15] — First impressions of the script
• [03:24] — Lessons from Miami production
• [04:49] — Casting and spanning the years
• [06:15] — Addressing the three-hour runtime
• [07:54] — MCC’s mission and contribution
• [09:50] — Age, acting, and authenticity in rehearsal
• [11:34] — The generational presence of Deborah

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Memorable Moments

• Bergman jokes about learning “a lot about hot tubs on stage in Miami, which is a new special skill.” (03:24)
• Host and director agree the play’s length “goes by in a heartbeat” and that audiences are engaged, not restless, at intermissions. (07:23)
• The insight that youthful stakes are best played as deeply serious to capture “the spring of youthfulness" rather than mimicking superficial youth. (09:50-11:21)

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Closing Note

Teddy Bergman’s passion for “Birthright” and his appreciation of MCC Theater’s collaborative environment shine throughout the episode. The conversation offers valuable behind-the-scenes perspectives on staging a complex, intimate, and time-spanning play, making it compelling listening for theater fans and professionals alike.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hi, I'm Lauren Klasschneider with Class Notes for Broadway Radio. I'm here with Teddy Bergman, director of Birthright at mcc. Hi Teddy.

[C]

Hi. How are you?

[B]

Well, great. And I'll be even better when I get to learn more from you about Birthright. The play begins as a reunion among six young friends after a Birthright trip to Israel in 2006, becomes, over the span of 18 years, an exploration of identity, fracturing communities and the struggle to stay connected across differences. How did you first become associated with Birthright and what were your first thoughts when you read it?

[C]

Well, Jonathan and I are blessed to share a wonderful agent named Die Glaser who introduced us to each other and right after he'd finished sort of his first draft of the play. The play comparatively has had a very short gestation period. He started writing it in the spring of 2024. And I was introduced to it via DI around November of 2024. And then we went and did a production of it in Miami. We start rehearsals the very beginning of March of 2025. So it was very quick and but that was my first, that was my first introduction to the play and that's how we met. And it's been an amazing collaboration.

[B]

Wow. And as you talk about Jonathan, of course, the playwright is Jonathan Spector. And I love that having shared an agent is what brought the two of you together. What were your impressions when you first read it?

[C]

I mean, I thought it was extraordinary. Immediately, you know, it had them all. I was familiar somewhat with Jonathan's other writing. His last play, eureka Day, was so wonderful. And I had loved it. I had loved it since the first time I saw it. And he has an incredible ability to write character. People just pop. His characters just pop off the page in the most incredible way. And that was certainly true of this, even in its very unfinished state at that point. It was a big, unwieldy play. The first time we read it in Miami, it read almost 50% longer than the play exists now, short play as is, but it was sprawling and so ambitious and so funny. It was. I was hooked.

[B]

The Miami new drama production in 2024, given that it was its first time on its feet, how much did you learn? What did you learn and what did you bring to the new production at mcc?

[C]

Well, I learned a lot. This is a small spoiler alert, but I learned a lot about hot tubs on stage in Miami, which was. Which is the new special skill that I have. I think we also really learned a lot about the arcs of these, all these characters, and sort of a lot more about what. How to craft them over 18 years. And, you know, the three acts are sort of spread out over that time and kind of what was essential for us to learn and what were the moments of change that felt the most. The most crucial? Because ultimately, as much as it's a play that tackles large and complex issues, it's really a play about a group of friends and so kind of understanding and bringing those people into greater focus and understanding what was emotionally most resonant and felt most specific about each of them as. As three dimensional people, was really the. Has been the work and the most joyous part of the work of making this.

[B]

Now the three acts are set in 2006, 2016 and 2024. Regarding the casting and aging, what were the challenges as you were putting this extraordinary cast together that needed to span all of these years?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, you know, we're so lucky to have such an incredibly protean group of actors who make the sort of realism of their transition over time feel, you know, feel real and feel believable. You know, mostly we were focused on creating something that felt like a realistic group of friends and that meant a lot of things. It meant, you know, that they were. They felt like contemporaries of one another, for sure, but also that they had real palpable chemistry with one another and that they all felt very unique from one another. And that's what I think the company does so extraordinarily. And they're all such amazing artists and they're also different from one another. And that was really kind of what we were after in putting them together was that. That it felt so. They felt like such a vibrant slice of life and that that really guided the process more than anything else.

[B]

How lovely. We've talked a little bit about the length of the play.

[C]

It.

[B]

It currently runs three hours, two intermissions. That, by the way, the whole thing goes by in a heartbeat. Did the runtime create any unique challenges for you during rehearsal or how potential audience members perceive what they're about to walk into.

[C]

I mean, certainly, you know, rehearsing, you know, there's more play to rehearse.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So that, you know, there's, there's, there's, there's a lot to do with a big play. But honestly, you know, I, I share your feeling that I think the play just whizzes by and I, you know, I've sat through 70 minute plays that felt a lot longer that I think and really, you know, it's so episodic. I like to describe the play as like a great binge watch. It's three episodes, it's three moments, it's three snow globes. They each have their own kind of rules and their own propulsion. And I think you, when, as you fall in love with these people, you really feel, you just enjoy, I think, I hope, the time that you spend with them. And so, you know, more than length in and of itself, it's always, I think the question when you're making something of does it hold your attention? And if you continually hold people's attention, then they're good to be with you for slightly longer than they normally would be. And if you're not, they'll want to get out of there real fast.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's riveting. The feeling that I had along with the group of friends that I was there with. Intermissions came and we weren't even ready.

[C]

Well, that's a great compliment.

[B]

Now, mcc, as a theater and a company, they just have such a wonderful reputation for developing new plays. What about developing this there further? Developing this there has been particularly valuable.

[C]

Well, I just think, I think their commitment to work that spawns conversation and that engages an audience after they leave the theater as their, as their mission, it just permeates every cell of that place. And they're, they're their not only willingness, but their desire to kind of embrace work that, that does that and to support it and to help it get to its kind of highest expression. It's just true in every person in that building and in, in their ethos and the way they kind of carry it out into, into, into their practice day to day. And it helps obviously too that you have a theater that is run by two of the greatest casting directors and in the world, when we're putting something together that is so dependent on the chemistry of the performers, that was a fabulous collaboration.

[B]

And what type of involvement do they have throughout rehearsal or at tech or as a resource for you and Jonathan.

[C]

I mean, they're so present and so hands on, both coming to run throughs and through readings and workshops leading into the rehearsal process, being, you know, present for run throughs in the room, being there throughout the tech process and preview process to share thoughts and, you know, be a sounding board, help us shape it kind of, you know, s. Help us with the best kind of accountability of keeping to, you know, reach for the thing to have the highest expression of itself. I think, you know, they were there kind of so in lockstep with us. It was really fabulous.

[B]

Are there times in rehearsal that you recall that you could share where there was a pivotal moment and something changed or clicked?

[C]

I think, you know, something that got clear for us, I think over the course of rehearsals. This is one, just one thing is, you know, the first act, most of the characters are 22 to 24. And because our cast, you know, know that's how old they are in Act 1, and then they're in their early 30s in Act 2 and then their late 30s, early 40s in Act 3. The company itself sort of sits in a. In a range of the middle of that. So when we were talking about what does it mean to play your 22 year old self, I think we came to this idea that the way to do it is not to try superficially to like, act like that age, but actually just to take the given set of circumstances that you're in incredibly seriously.

[B]

Like what.

[C]

What they're dealing with is life and death. It is the stakes of it. It's only as you get older do you realize that I think what.

[B]

What.

[C]

What you felt so passionately about that felt so important in the broader range of your life. Not that it's not important, but that it's just a. There's more time, there's more life to live. So it's somehow taking that so seriously. The. And they're on a really specific mission in Act 1. And the seriousness of that and feeling like it was an essential thing to get done just makes sort of the youthfulness kind of spring alive.

[B]

And I also love how Jonathan has structured the play to have someone as a parent, an older generation, so present in all three of the acts.

[C]

Totally. And Liz Larson, who plays Deborah, is an extraordinary performer and so funny, but it is, it is this. She's this sort of bellwether and reminder for the. For the group. And it's so funny and so warm and has such wisdom to offer as well. It's a great kind of ballast, I think, for the community that the little

[B]

community of friends and how he wrote that character in, which gives everyone else a different depth and weight to be hearing and participating in the story.

[C]

Totally. I totally agree.

[B]

Well, this has been absolutely wonderful. I'm so appreciative of the insight that you brought and the things that you've told.

[C]

Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. It's so fun and I love the place, so it's great to get to talk about it.

[B]

I'm Lauren Klaaschneider with Teddy Bergman, director ofbirthright@mcc. Thank.

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