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Yiddish theater attempts comeback (with translations)
January 5, 1997
Web posted at: 11:50 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Cynthia Tornquist
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Folksbeine Theatre perseveres as one of the last of the Yiddish theaters that flourished in the first half of the century.
(832K/22 sec. QuickTime movie)
The theaters grew from the East European Jewish culture of immigrants, but faded as their founders assimilated. But some actors and patrons are pushing for a comeback.
"Even the rich Jews said it's dead and I said, 'No, it's not dead,'" said 76-year-old actress Zypora Spaisman, a performer for 41 years.
Spaisman said that aside from money, the theater lacks young actors who speak Yiddish.
Rachel Botchan, 24, who stars in the current production of "The Maiden of Ludmir," trained in Shakespeare, but not the Yiddish language.
"I learn the part phonetically, but I also know everything I am saying because I worked with a coach," Botchan said.
The Folksbeine was founded in 1915 for actors who had performed professionally in their native countries but had to began in the United States in unpaid positions. While their productions entertained, they also satisfied another need.
"It was a way to help these people, who had been uprooted, understand what it meant to be Jewish in America, as they were moving away from traditions of the old world and coming to terms with the new," said historian Joel Berkowitz.
All productions of the Folksbeine are in Yiddish. Patrons can rent earphones to hear simultaneous translation in Russian or English.
"It has something more than nostalgic appeal," said actor Bernard Mendelovitch. "It really takes them back to their roots and their beginnings."
Posters of Yiddish theater greats adorn the walls of the famed Second Avenue Deli, and the eatery's sidewalk honors performers of the eight Yiddish theaters that once flourished along Second Avenue.
But the theater needs more than past icons to continue.
"It's very important as a young Jewish actor to continue this art form, because it is a wonderful and it is unfortunately dying out," said actor Ilan Kwittken.
"If I have something to say about it, it won't."
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