A play about the friendship between Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach, a Jewish architect, has its world premiere at the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road this week. Miami New Drama opens its 10th anniversary season with Gandhi and the Jew on Thursday, Nov. 5, and runs it through Sunday, Nov. 29.

The company describes the piece as the story of two men who helped shape the philosophy of nonviolence together. Playwright Harley Elias built it from years of research, trips to South Africa and hundreds of unpublished letters between the two. As the play moves forward in time and the fate of Europe's Jews becomes urgent, the friends' shared ideals split over the question of a Jewish state.

Who made it

Elias wrote the play and Margot Bordelon directs it. It is Elias's fifth collaboration with Miami New Drama, the company in residence at the Colony, and the third commissioned premiere in the company's Jewish Play Initiative.

A world premiere means Miami Beach audiences are the first anywhere to see the script on a stage.

The schedule

Evening performances start at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and Sunday matinees start at 3 p.m. Two Saturdays, Nov. 21 and Nov. 28, add a 2 p.m. matinee.

  • Thursday, Nov. 5, and Friday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m.: opening night, already sold out
  • Sunday, Nov. 8, at 3 p.m.
  • Nov. 12 to 15: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.
  • Nov. 19 to 22: Thursday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.
  • Nov. 27 to 29: Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.

There is no performance on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26.

Talkbacks after three performances

Three shows add a conversation after the curtain, each led by a moderator from CAJE, the Council for Initiatives in Jewish Education:

  • Thursday, Nov. 12: Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar, CAJE's executive director
  • Sunday, Nov. 15: Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger, CAJE's director of adult learning
  • Thursday, Nov. 19: Rachel Benaim Abudarham, CAJE's assistant director of adult learning

The rest of the season

Miami New Drama is selling 2026-27 season subscriptions alongside single tickets, and Gandhi and the Jew is the production that opens its 10th anniversary season.

Go

Gandhi and the Jew, Nov. 5 to 29 at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. Single tickets are on sale through Miami New Drama's website, which links to every performance. The box office answers at 305-674-1040 and [email protected], Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

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