ORA FRUCHTER
ORA'S THEATER PROJECTS
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boy of the sea
In this theatrical puppetry show for adults, siblings Yoshie Fruchter (composer) and Ora Fruchter (director/puppet design) bring to life invented Jewish folklore and new Yiddish music. The show is charged with ancestral reverberations, connecting the past to the present through an associative world of family, tradition, heirlooms and superstitions.
These imagined folk tales were written as part of the research and development of Temim Fruchter's recent critically acclaimed novel City of Laughter. Boy of the Sea is part of what will be a longer theatrical puppetry project that will incorporate her other tales about a chicken wedding, a secret cave that holds the secret to immortality, and of course the boy of the sea.
Yoshie and Ora, having developed independent creative careers over the years, are delighted to find themselves at this meeting point to finally create a theatrical project together. They hope to joyfully bring to life something from their family roots. This show is both a love letter to our ancestors and a keepsake to pass down to future generations.
The music is all original, using some existing Yididsh poetry and new lyrics by Joe Dobkin, and is performed by Yoshie Fruchter and singer/cellist Deborah Sacks-Mintz.
They debuted a performance of the music at Yidstock under the name ReynHartsik (heartfelt,sincerely) in the summer 2025. Using a combination of their voices with cello, guitar, bass and mandolin, Fruchter and Sacks-Mintz bring new melodies to the Jewish music canon using intricate song, sensitive musicianship and a sincere desire to connect with audiences.
Boy of the Sea is generously supported by a grant from The Peleh Residency.
www.boyofthesea.com
FEEBLE FLAME
Delightfully unruly theatre handmade for you, yes you, you little weirdo.
Feeble Flame is a Portland theater company founded by Ora Fruchter and Sarah Smith, whose interactive family-friendly shows are bighearted, funny, and intentionally imperfect, sending the message that there is no one right way to be. This is handmade and delightfully unruly theater for everyone who has ever felt like the instructions were written for somebody else.
You're Doing it Wrong! is Feeble Flame's handmade, all-ages puppet comedy about trying, failing, and finding your own way. Bitty is a bird with an egg, nowhere to put it, and no idea how every other bird makes nest-building look so easy. Follow Bitty through disastrous neighbor interactions, digging lessons with a prairie dog, and a run-in with a snake. With help from the audience, creative problem-solving, and determination, she finds the home she has been seeking. Expect slapstick, silly sound effects, and a set that has a life of its own. Geared toward ages 4 and up; fun for everyone!
Feeble Flame is the recipient of a 2026 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant and a 2025-2026 RACC Portland Arts Project Grant.
Here's Ora and Sarah in an interview about the show on KATU - AM Northwest
www.feebleflame.com
Drawing by Colleen Napolitano
Photo by Ken Ek
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Photo by Eric Michael Pearson
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Doppelskope
Doppelskope is the brainchild (and heartchild) of Ora Fruchter and Stoph Scheer. When we met in a clown class in 2009, Ora was a detail-oriented visual theatre artist and Stoph was a frenetic physical performer, but we both wanted to make open-hearted new theatre that approached life’s darkest problems through comedy. When we started working together, our aesthetic hybrid evolved to fit our unique skill sets, including puppetry, clown, improvisation, magical illusions, music, circus and philosophy.
Doppelskope creates highly visual and interactive performances that explore topics from existential dread to ecological crises. We believe that the stories we tell about the world can change the world. We believe audience interaction empowers audiences to realize they can affect the world as they affect our plays. We believe in the intelligence of children and the whimsy of adults. Our shows celebrate life and inspire connection, discovery and community.
We named ourselves Doppelskope, a misspelled portmanteau of “doppelganger telescope” (imagine a telescope so powerful you can see the back of your own head). “Doppel” means “double” in German, so Doppelskope also means double-scope, or “two viewpoints” - a reminder of how important collaboration is to us.
Our early adult-oriented shows - including An Existential Sing-Along, Shrink: Puppet Therapy, and The Apocalypse Show - were developed through performance in variety settings, which allowed us to continuously experiment and discover what works best for us.
Then, along with our resident composer Toby Singer we created three off- the-wall, family-friendly, fairytale musical comedies. These shows explore environmental justice (Gruff!), the relationship between humans and technology (Grimm!), and the complex social ramifications of commerce (Growl!).
Gruff!, Grimm!, and Growl! (“The Grilogy”) premiered at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre from 2014-2016. In 2017 Doppelskope produced Gruff! in NYC to critical acclaim which led to an Off-Broadway run at the McGinn/Cazale Theater.
The Lily Theatre in Indianapolis and the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine have licensed and presented their own productions of Gruff!
Doppelskope received a Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant for our most recent show The Amazing Story Machine. The New York Times described it as “endlessly inventive” during its initial NYC-run at The Tank. The Amazing Story Machine was subsequently performed at Symphony Space, The Jim Henson Carriage House, Puppet Showplace, Sandglass Theater, and the Chicago International Puppet Festival. The show will be performed this spring at the Center for Puppetry Arts.
The amazing story machine
by Doppelskope
Gruff!
by Doppelskope
Charlie
from An Existential Sing-Along
by Doppelskope
Song by Emily Hope Price