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After an absence of an entire three
years from New York, the young actor Jacob Rechtzeit has
returned. For three seasons he was engaged for "several
months" to play in Argentina, and several months became
thirty-six since he has played in his own countries.
During that time he played in the
cities and towns of Argentina and Uruguay, in Paris, in
Belgium, in Romania, and in Poland. In the last two
countries he played for a year's time in each. Of all the
countries in which he played, Rechtzeit returned with a
bundle of newspapers in which people praised him. But he is
not so proud of it.
"When I left," he says, very humbly, "I
did not have a far-advertised name. Yiddish theatre visitors
in New York, and in several other cities know me. However,
farther away, mainly outside of the United States, my name
is absolutely not known. If so, I've played eight months in
South America; two seasons in Romania; a year in Poland, and
I may be returning to Paris for a "return engagement." I
think, proudly. I'm pleased with the audience, and I hope
you do like what I am saying."
He speaks with a great love about the
Yiddish theatre-goer in those countries. |
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"In America if the person becomes
somewhat lost," he says," you talk to a newspaper writer,
for example, he thinks you are just out for publicity, and
he watches out for an actor, otherwise the actor does not
feel at home with the writer. The spectator in the theatre
sees the "show," gossips if it pleases him, and he is not
interest with the actor. In Europe -- there in something
else. There, when one meets, the eyes flash, one is
interested in an actor as an artist and as a living person.
It's getting warmer there, friendlier.
This is what Rechtzeit is talking
about, and from this it can already be seen that he was good
in Europe.
In Romania, he recalls, he had a
success, a pleasure.
"In the end, I was shocked. I thought
that as soon as I crossed the border, a Romanian with a
knife would hand me over. But it was just the opposite. The
Jews there were warm, heartfelt, and they love Yiddish
theatre. Even those who don't understand Yiddish go to the
Yiddish theatre. In the beginning it was the cradle of the
Yiddish stage. What more do you need? At my performances,
thirty percent of the public were Christians. When Joseph
Buloff played there, almost half of his public were
"non-Jews."
One of Rechtzeit's hot patriots [avid
fans] was the Greek ambassador, and his wife. In Warsaw
Rechtzeit attracted to his productions an aristocratic
audience, despite the fact that he played on Smocza
(Yiddish: Smotshe) street, which is where one finds the poor
area of the city.* [ed.: The theatre here was probably the
Eldorado.]
Now they are negotiating with Rechtzeit
for Chicago and for Boston, and also for New York. But our
hearts tell us that he will not last long in America. He is
surrounded by a dream. He was very welcome in Europe and
longed for it.
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* -- To read more about the poor,
Jewish neighborhood on pre-WWII Smocza Street, go to the
well-written and moving 2017 article in the Forverts (in
English) at:
https://forward.com/yiddish/370230/reimagining-the-lively-character-of-pre-war-smocza-street/.
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