People
Meet the people who made Yiddish theatre happen: on stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience.
March 18, 2015
Russians? Cossacks? Jews? The Russian Imperial Singers Unmasked
SOME PHOTOGRAPHS JUST make you smile, and this is one of them. When I first saw it I thought it was a group of adults dressed up for the Jewish festival of Purim. That would explain the Cossack-style costumes and the (real or fake?) comedy store moustaches. In fact, although it’s not a Purim photo, that […]
March 4, 2015
A Writer, a Painter, and Queen Esther
Purim reminds us that modern Yiddish theatre traces its lineage from the traditional folk drama genre known as the Purim-shpil.
February 4, 2015
Goldfaden’s Rules for Yiddish Actors
In 1888, the first school for Yiddish actors was supposed to open in New York. It never did.
January 29, 2015
Ola Lillith’s Edgy, Avant-Garde Yiddish Cabaret
I first discovered Ola Lilith while researching for my band Mappamundi’s Cabaret Warsaw CD.
January 21, 2015
The Talented Mr Rotblat and His Micrographic Tribute to Jacob Gordin
This is the story behind an exquisite portrait of a Yiddish dramatist.
January 13, 2015
Yiddish Theatre Posters of the 1890s
The New York Public Library’s Digital Collection includes Yiddish theatre posters dating back more than a hundred years.