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.


May 18, 2015

Audiences are Idiots

One of the hardest problems in theatre studies is understanding audiences response.
April 28, 2015

Matzah and Melodrama: Nahum Stutchkoff’s Yiddish Song Lyrics

Nahum Stutchkoff (1893-1965) was a beloved Yiddish radio personality, playwright, lyricist and linguist who created dramas and commercials for WEVD radio.
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.