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Learning All About the History of Yiddish Theatre
(and those who participated in it)


 

YIDDISH THEATRE 101: THE PLAY IN HISTORY

 

The plays that were performed on the Yiddish stage were mainly written by Jews in the Yiddish language, which was the primary language that Jews in the Ashkenazi community usually spoke in Central Europe.

There were many different genres of Yiddish plays, from the melodrama to the operetta, from the musical comedy to more expressionist and modernist plays. At one time, professional Yiddish theatre was quite popular, especially among the Jewish masses.

The Yiddish theatre, however, did not exist solely in the Central and Eastern European countries, but also in any country that was home to the Jewish Diaspora, whether it be in the major cities of Western Europe, such as Paris, London or Berlin, or in South or Central America, such as in Buenos Aires or Mexico City. Yiddish theatre also was very popular among the Jewish immigrants who lived in New York City, especially those who resided on the teeming Lower East Side. At one time there were at least fourteen or fifteen Yiddish theatres that actively staged Yiddish plays in New York City.

The backgrounds of those who wrote the Yiddish plays, i.e. the playwright, were varied and each had wonderful stories to tell. From Jacob Gordin to Sholem Aleichem, from Sholem Asch to Peretz Hirschbein to I. L. Peretz, each writer made his or her own contribution to Jewish culture by describing in their own words the Jewish experience, its joys and its tragedies. Many plays were simply performed to entertain, for laughs; others were of a more serious ilk, often with a historical theme, such as those written by the famous Yiddish playwright Jacob Gordin, or the plays staged later on by the great actor Maurice Schwartz and his Yiddish Art Theatre troupe or Jacob Ben Ami.

Maurice Schwartz and his Yiddish Art Theatre troupe meeting, New York, circa 1950s.

In this educational series, the Museum of the Yiddish Theatre strives to share with its followers an array of Yiddish plays -- not the scripts of the plays themselves, but synopses, i. e. summaries of the actions of the plays, as well as other interesting information about the productions, such as the names of those in the cast, critics' reviews of the production, still photographs from the show and the like. It is hoped that you, the valued museum "visitor," will read each of the Museum's presentations with care and use your imagination to optimal effect. You may like to imagine yourself as an attendee of a certain production: you might want to consider what was occurring in the world (or in the city) during that time, even what might have been going on within your own family the night of the performance. Perhaps, by participating in this experience, you also might gain the desire to learn more about the playwright and their own life experience that might have influenced their writings or the subject matter of the play, e.g. the Russian Revolution, Jewish family life in Europe or in the United States, a religious theme, or simply the Jewish experience.

The Museum hopes that all of this will enlighten you and pique your interest in the Yiddish theatre.

Here you can learn about 109 Yiddish theatre productions. Enjoy the "journey"!

 

 

Part One:

Maurice Schwartz's "Yiddish Art Theatre," thirty-eight productions.

 

 

     

  Part Two:

Seventeen more Yiddish theatre productions, including two performances
by the Habima.

     

  Part Three:

ARTEF

"Diamonds"
"In the Whirl of Machines"
"Jim Cooperkop"
"Naftuli Botwin"
"Recruits"
"The Third Parade"
"Yegor Bulitchev"
 

     

  Part Four:

The Plays of Sholem Aleichem

Includes: "The Gold Diggers"
                 "It's Hard to be a Jew"
                 "
Roaming Stars"
                 "
Sender Blank"
                 "Stempenyu the Fiddler"
                 "Tevye the Milkman"

 

     

  Part Five:

The Plays of Jacob Gordin

Includes: "God, Man and Devil"
                 "The Jewish King Lear"

 

     
  Part Six:

The Plays of Avraham Goldfaden

Includes: "Roaming Stars"
                 "
The Two Kooneylemels"
                 "The Witch"

 

     

  Part Seven:

The Plays of Isidore Solotorefsky

Includes: "The Price of Love"

     

  Part Eight:

The Plays of William Siegel

Includes: "A Village Wedding"
                  "My Malkele"
                  "Bublitchki"

     
  Part Nine:

The Plays of Chone Gottesfeld

Includes: "American Chassidim"
                 "
Angels on Earth"
                 "In-Laws"
                 "Raizele"

 

     
  Part Ten:

The Plays of Sholom Ansky

Includes: "Day and Night"
                 "The Dybbuk"

 

     
  Part Eleven:

The Plays of Peretz Hirshbein

Includes: "The Blacksmith's Daughters"
                 "The Idle Inn"
                 "One Life For Another"

 
     
  Part Twelve:

The Plays of H. Leivick

Includes: "Chains"
                 "The Golem"
                 "Who is Who?"

 

     
  Part Thirteen:

The Plays of I.L. Peretz

Includes: "The Golden Chain"
                 "The Three Gifts"

 

     
  Part Fourteen:

The Plays of Sholem Asch

Includes: "Kiddush Hashem"
                 "
A String of Pearls"

 

     
  Part Fifteen:

The Plays of I.J. Singer

Includes: "The Brothers Ashkenazi"
                 "The Three Gifts"

 

     

  Part Sixteen:

The Plays of Max Gabel

Includes: "Galician Rebbetzin"
                  " Her Great Secret"
                  " Her Mother's Wedding Gown"

 

     
    Part Seventeen:

"Abi Gezunt"
"Day and Night"
"The Final Balance" (David Pinski)
"Good Luck" (Joseph Lateiner)

"A Night in the Woods" (Isidore Lash)
"Out of the Beyond" (I.D. Berkowitz)
"Singer of His Sorrows" (Ossip Dymow)
"60,000 Heroes" (Benjamin Ressler)
"The Song of Love" (Louis Freiman)
"The Struggle" (B. Appelbaum)
"Sunrise" (Abraham Blum)
"The Verdict" (Sophie Levitina)
"The Vow" (Herbert Lieberman)
"Yegor Bulitchev" (Maxim Gorky)


 

 


 

 

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