Timberland 1961 borrows from Rausch’s experience growing up in Jamaica Estates, Queens, vacationing in the Catskill Mountains with her family, and attending Jewish summer camp at Camp Seneca, where she “would get all the parts in the drama productions.” She continued, “we would also write the introduction to Friday night services and I would play the voice of God.”
Rausch said she decided to write the play “because I wanted to see if I could carry the action of a play with my words.” Reviewer Lisa Traiger praised Rausch’s “bright, funny script she hopes will touch the Jewish community.” Reflecting Rausch’s musical expertise as a singer, the original production used music ranging from Broadway to Yiddish songs to frame each of the scene changes.*