Subjects

Yiddish theatre and drama have explored all of the major themes and issues relating to the Jewish experience from medieval times to the present.


September 21, 2018

Found in Translation: Hatuey, Cuba, and the Jews

Some background on the Yiddish epic poem, Hatuey.
August 30, 2018

Avrom Fishzon, or the Berdichev Sheherazad

The DYTP’s first long form blog post: a reflection on the actor and impresario Avrom Fishzon (1843?–1922).
August 24, 2018

Yiddish Theatre is Child’s Play: The One-Act Repertoire Part II

Our current Plotting Yiddish Drama batch gives a taste of the Yiddish one-act plays that were written for children.
August 16, 2018

One (Act) for the Show

One-act plays present a striking variety of themes, character types, and styles, as can be seen in the latest Plotting Yiddish Drama batch, devoted to this genre.
August 2, 2018

How Jewish Can One Fiddler Be?: Reflections on the Folksbiene’s Fidler afn dakh

DAVID LEARNED ABOUT the Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof from his husband’s non-Jewish aunt, who lives on the Upper West Side. Auntie Kay, as we call her, has the pulse on Jewish New York like no one else, even though she’s not Jewish. He then emailed his culture-maven colleague in New York, Rebecca Kobrin, to see […]
July 26, 2018

A Yiddish Homecoming for Fiddler on the Roof

Fifteen years ago, I played violin in the pit orchestra for a high school production of Fiddler on the Roof in Sheldon, Iowa, a town whose five thousand residents were overwhelmingly white, Christian, and politically conservative. As the only Jew in at least a fifty-mile radius, I wondered how the show would resonate with the audience, most of whom […]