Examines how notions of Jewishness have been conveyed in a range of television, stage, and film productions, since the end of World War II. Beginning in 1947, this book draws on a different discipline of performance studies to explore the ever-changing relationship between Jews and mainstream American culture.

Beginning in 1947, the book covers some of America's favorite plays ("Death of a Salesman", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Angels in America"), films ("Gentleman's Agreement", "Annie Hall") and television shows ("The Goldbergs", "Seinfeld"), identifying a double-coding by which performers enact, and spectators read, Jewishness in contemporary performance - and, by extension, enact and read other minority identities. Henry Bial draws on the lively discipline of performance studies to explore the ever-changing relationship between Jews and mainstream American culture.