Writers
Many of the most important Yiddish writers of all time turned at least a hand to playwriting. For some it was their primary focus, for others it played second fiddle to writing fiction, poetry, reportage, or in other genres. Yiddish drama runs the gamut from hastily written hack work to some of the greatest masterpieces of Yiddish literature, and of world drama.
July 10, 2025
Yente Serdatsky Reviews Ida Badanes’s Der eyntsiger veg (The Only Way)
A search in the Yiddish press for Ida Badanes (1874-1946) largely returns two types of results: regular advertisements for her medical office (first in the East Village, and later on the Upper East Side), shared with husband, Alexander (Jacob) Ravnitsky, and many hundreds of columns published in the Forverts, Der Tog and the Jewish Ladies Home Journal’s “Di froyen […]
April 15, 2025
Bertha Kalich [Kalish], My Life: An Autobiography, pt. II
Read Part I here. Published in Der tog (the day) – March 7-Nov. 14, 1925 Translated by Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel PART II: EARLY CAREER May 27, 1925 “Actress and Wife” I, from my side, must confess to you that I was not among the most famous housewives… Believe me, it was easier for me to perform […]
April 29, 2024
Tsvishn Falndike Vent: An Interview With Avram Mlotek, Zalmen Mlotek, and Motl Didner
Last November, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene opened its final production of 2023, a musical revue called Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent): Unveiling Resilience and Hope During the Holocaust. The production was curated and written by Avram Mlotek, with music curated and arranged by Zalmen Mlotek, and directed by Motl Didner. The Folksbiene’s website explains […]
January 20, 2022
Tea Arciszewska: Remembering the Modernist Playwright on Her Sixtieth Yortsayt
Sixty years ago thoday, the Yiddish playwright, actress, theatre company founder, and salonnière Tea Arciszewska (c. 1890 – 1962) died in Paris.
December 7, 2021
My Path to the Yiddish Theatre: David Edelstadt’s Revolutionary Recitation
Bella Bellarina was born in Warsaw on July 15, 1898, into the legendary Rubinlicht family, known for the intellectual and cultural accomplishments of its worldly children.
December 6, 2021
“Permit New Actors on the Stage?”: A 1905 Protest Letter by Tsipe Abelman
Tsipe (Tsipoyre) Abelman trained as a factory seamstress before performing in popular musical works on the Yiddish stage.