Jesse, a nice Jewish boy from North London, falls hopelessly in love with Alex, a mixed-race woman from South London. How they struggle to stay in love as they are confronted with the world’s unpredictable cruelty is the biting, funny, bittersweet story of One Jewish Boy.

Stephen Laughton is an award-winning, critically acclaimed writer with a rising international profile. He has work in various stages of development across film and theatre in NYC, LA, London, Cape Town, and Sydney. He has worked with major theatres and broadcasters including the Royal Court, MTC, Headlong, BBC, TF1 and Film4. He is an Associate Artist in the Astrophysics team at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Stephen has two major plays coming up in 2025: Giants, which explores the controversy that unfolded on the set of James Dean’s last film, is set to open at the Sydney Opera House; and Velocity – which examines mental health in the LGBTQ+ community through the lens of the birth of the universe, human reaction times, and dark matter – is set to open at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.
For screen, his sci-fi short Hiraeth won 8 of the 20 awards it was nominated for on the international festival circuit. (Including Best Screenplay). Horror feature – We Live Here is currently being packaged in the US; Sci-fi feature – The Array, in South Africa. His comedy-drama, The Call, begins principal photography in spring of 2025.

Sharae Foxie as Alex

Ezekiel Goodman as Jesse

Set design | Justin Huen

Costume design | Dianne Graebner

Light & sound design | Matt Richter

Production stage manager | Bianca Rickheim

“A FASCINATING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE… Never one to shy away from riveting subjects, Echo Theater Company is ripping the band-aid off slowly in their latest production… heartbreakingly authentic, powerful and disturbing.” — Carol Becker, Larchmont Buzz

“COMPLEX… TIMELY AND PROVOCATIVE… what happens when you scratch the fabric of society and discover the beauty and ugliness of human relationships?” — Joe Mosqueda, Glamgical

“TRUTHFUL… The writing is magnificent… two wonderful actors.” — Amalisha Hueck, Discover Hollywood

 
“A LOVE STORY THAT SOARS among deep wounds… kept the audience intrigued, immobilized, and hopeful.” — Carol Germain, Colorado Boulevard

“WOW!... GUT-PUNCHINGLY POWERFUL… exemplifies Los Angeles intimate theater at its edgy, hot-button best.” — Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA

"DEEPLY FELT... [the] intimacy has a way of drawing out latent political tensions and making them intensely personal..." - Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

“EXCELLENT...See this show for its excellent work on the stage in the tradition of The Echo Theatre Company's continuing contribution to important theatre in Los Angeles.  The art of it keeps our spirits alive in this time of crisis." — Michael Sheehan, On Stage Los Angeles

“A DYNANMIC WORK OF ART… Sharae Foxie and Zeke Goodman are incredible actors who find the love and charm in between the storms as their chemistry is the strongest asset to the play along with the stunning set design work by Justin Huen, and nuanced direction by Chris Fields.” — Edward Hong, The Nerds of Color