Theatre History Overview - Part 49 - Jewish/Yiddish Theatre

Edit: I've been told that this is bad information. Sorry about not having good sources. I thought I had found some decent sources, but apparently I didn't.

I did not mean to ever use the word Jew to be offensive, I have always only equated the word Jew with somebody who is of the Jewish faith. So, I am sorry to those who are offended by the word. I had not learned any differently that there was a distinction between the two.

Thanks to, Orli Nativ here is some information. This comes straight from her words:

There was Hebrew language theatre performed in Italy as far back as the 1530s, and 'Purim-spiel' type religious plays prior. The 16th century stuff is really interesting! There's an important, wide distinction to be made between Hebrew language theatre, and Jewish theatre, which has a much wider history due to geographic and linguistic variation. There's a lot more Israeli theatre history beyond Habima too!

Here are some informative links that she provided:

• Theatre at the Virtual Jewish Library
• The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
• Israelis Theatre at My Jewish Learning

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While Jews have ancient literature, they don't have ancient theatre. In 1913, a man named Nahum Tsemach tried to establish a theatre company called Habima (meaning "the stage") in Lithuania. His theatre dealt with Jewish themes, but it had financial troubles and closed. However, it re-opened in Russia in 1917 with the help of Menaham Gansin and Hanna Rubina. The first show was performed in 1918.

In 1922, Tsemach's theatre first performed its most famous play, Dybbuk. Tsemach took his play on tour and when he tried to come back to his company in Israel, the company did not accept him as they were running the theatre company their own way. They had actors direct the plays and in 1937, the first original Jewis play was performed.

Despite this history, Jewish only started to have a good beginning during World War II. This is because of the concentration camps. Sometimes it was because of being in a concentration camp as mentioned in the overview of German theatre history. Other times, it was because of the small spaces where they were hiding.

Jews would meet in small rooms or areas and they would play games, study, and sing for each other. They might also act out stories. Sometimes t hese stories were simply accounts of what they had to endure every day. However, doing these activities help them to keep their spirit.

In 1948, Habima came back to Europe after a disappointing tour in the United States. They started to realize that the way they were managing the company wasn't working. Despite these problems, the theatre lasted through the 1950s and 1960s while they produced plays such as Anne Frank and Hanna Sanesh as well as others that dealth with the subject of the Holocaust. In 1969, the company became a theatre of the stage and a new building was opened for the company in 1970. On Israel's 40th birthday, Habima became the official national theatre.

In general, Jews, Hebrews, and Israelis seem to love theatre. There are many theatre festivals held in Israel and they deal with Hebrew and Jewish culture. Some of the festivals are The Internationsl Festival of Puppet Theatre, The Teatronetto Festival, and The Festival of Alternative Theatre. Dybbuk is still performed around the world today.

(I appologize, but due to many unforseen circumstances - including an internet connectivity issue, this counts for my blog post for Sunday, June 17, 2018.)

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