CROSSING DELANCEY
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Of course Sandler wrapped these Reagan-ish notions in a story even liberal Democrats could enjoy: somewhat yupped Isabelle Grossman thinks she’s in love with a self-absorbed WASP novelist, but eventually finds true happiness when her bubbie and a marriage broker fix her up with a nice Jewish boy from the old neighborhood who goes to shul every day and makes his living selling pickles at the company he inherited from his father.
And Sandler’s play is far subtler and richer than this plot summary suggests. Although she could have filled her story with a collection of stereotypes–the foolish, headstrong granddaughter, the wise bubbie, the kvetching matchmaker–Sandler has clearly worked hard to give her characters depth. Sandler draws Isabelle not as career-crazed yuppie but as a quiet woman who daydreams a little too much for her own good. Similarly, Sam the pickle man is also something of a poet who studied literature before his father died. Even marriage broker Hannah is drawn with much more detail than your stock matchmaker; Sandler hints that her husband committed suicide.
