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Jewish Theatre

To dive into conversations about Jewish theatre, start with the series #JewPlay: What Is the Future of Jewish Theatre? or check out this Theatre History Podcast episode on Yiddish theatre’s past and present.

The Latest

Yiddish Theatre in Romania after the Holocaust
Video
Yiddish Theatre in Romania after the Holocaust
Friday 21 October 2022
Cluj, Romania
My Mother’s Courage
Video
My Mother’s Courage
Based on the true story of legendary theatre artist George Tabori's memoir of his Jewish mother who managed to escape deportation from Budapest in 1944
Thursday 27 January 2022
New York City
SEGAL TALKS with Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson
Video
SEGAL TALKS with Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson
Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona
Wednesday 26 May 2021
United States
event poster for Yiddish Theatre in Romania after The Holocaust.
Yiddish Theatre in Romania after the Holocaust
Video

Yiddish Theatre in Romania after the Holocaust

Friday 21 October 2022
Cluj, Romania

Tranzit House presented a talk by Mihai Lukács on Yiddish Theatre in Romania after The Holocaust livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 21 October 2022 at 8 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 15:00 UTC / 16:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 17:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 18:00 EEST (Cluj, UTC +3).

a photo of two actors on stage in 1940s period dress.
My Mother’s Courage
Video

My Mother’s Courage

Based on the true story of legendary theatre artist George Tabori's memoir of his Jewish mother who managed to escape deportation from Budapest in 1944

Thursday 27 January 2022
New York City

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented a reading of My Mother’s Courage by George Tabori livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Thursday 27 January 2022 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 11 a.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

headshots of Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson.
SEGAL TALKS with Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson
Video

SEGAL TALKS with Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Wednesday 26 May 2021
United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS with Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Yelena Shmulenson livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 26 May 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

portrait of carey perloff
SEGAL TALKS with Carey Perloff (USA)
Video

SEGAL TALKS with Carey Perloff (USA)

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Thursday 20 May 2021
United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS with Carey Perloff (USA) livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 20 May 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

youtube screenshot
Specters of Queer Trauma in Nosferatu, The Vampyr
Essay

Specters of Queer Trauma in Nosferatu, The Vampyr

4 August 2020

Chloe Hyman reflects on M Sloth Levine’s play Nosferatu, The Vampyr, which she believes serves to dismantle anti-Semitic tropes, due to the fact that Jewishness and queerness are inextricably bound in vampire lore.

illustrations of elderly artists with the text that says RosenKabarett
RosenKabarett Anniversary Performance
Video

RosenKabarett Anniversary Performance

by 4th Age Community Arts Center in Bucharest, Romania

Wednesday 18 September 2019
Bucharest, Romania

4th Age Community Arts Center presented the RosenKabarett Anniversary Performance livestreaming from Bucharest, Romania on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 18 September at 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 16:00 UTC +0 / 5 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 19:00 EEST (Bucharest, UTC +3).

two people onstage
Looking for “Lesbians” in God of Vengeance and Indecent
Essay

Looking for “Lesbians” in God of Vengeance and Indecent

3 July 2018

Writer Warren Hoffman dives into the history of God of Vengeance, the Yiddish play from 1907 that inspired Paula Vogel's Indecent, and the questions around language and sexuality the play raised and continues to raise.

The Judaica project
Video

The Judaica project

A laboratory for new embodied technique at the crossroads of experimental performance, critical identity politics, and ethnomusicological archives.

Monday 16 October 2017
New York, NY, United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City presented the Judaica project with Nazlıhan Eda Erçin (Turkey), Agnieszka Mendel (Poland), & Ben Spatz (US) livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 16 October at 6:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 5:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 3:30 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles).

 

Theatre History Podcast # 14
Podcast

Theatre History Podcast # 14

David Mandelbaum Talks About New Yiddish Rep’s Revival of God of Vengeance

5 December 2016

Michael Lueger talks with David Mandelbaum about a new production of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance.

Shakespeare & Company’s second production of The Merchant of Venice
Essay

Shakespeare & Company’s second production of The Merchant of Venice

1 October 2016

Josh Platt on The Merchant of Venice directed by Tina Packer in Lenox, Massachusetts. 

Theatre History Podcast # 5
Podcast

Theatre History Podcast # 5

Joel Berkowitz on the Yiddish Theatre's Past (and Present)

19 September 2016

Michael Lueger talks with Joel Berkowitz about Yiddish theatre’s historical and present iterations.

Stars of David
Essay

Stars of David

Story to Song Twinterview

30 January 2016

Lauren Alexander interviews twins Shirley and Aaron Sertosky about their experience working together in Theater J’s production of Stars of David: Story to Song.

An Inside Look at Theater J
Essay

An Inside Look at Theater J

Interview with Shirley Serotsky

27 July 2015

Jacqueline Lawton interviews Acting Artistic Director of Theater J, Shirley Serotsky.

Making the Rabbi Laugh
Essay

Making the Rabbi Laugh

Auschwitz, Theatre, and the Absurdity of Evil

18 February 2015

Playwright Jake Rosenberg considers the obligation to historical narrative, commemoration versus invention, humor, and the Holocaust.

On Supporting Both Theatre J and Mosaic Theater
Essay

On Supporting Both Theatre J and Mosaic Theater

A Perspective from a Regional Jewish Artistic Director

26 January 2015

Artistic director Diane Gilboa contemplates what could happen to Jewish theatre since the dismissal of Ari Roth, and shares her hopes for the field and colleagues.

Jewish Theatre, For Heaven’s Sake!
Essay

Jewish Theatre, For Heaven’s Sake!

4 January 2015

President of the Association for Jewish Theatre David Y. Chack contemplates the future of Jewish Theatre since Ari Roth’s dismissal, as well as the need to diverse cultural expressions.

An Interview With Former Theater J Artistic Director Ari Roth
Essay

An Interview With Former Theater J Artistic Director Ari Roth

21 December 2014

P. Carl interviews Ari Roth about his recent firing from Theater J and the power of theatre in politcs. 

Jewish Religious Observance in the American Theater
Essay

Jewish Religious Observance in the American Theater

14 March 2014

As a response to the realities of the current state of the theater for religiously observant theater artists, I co-founded 24/6: A Jewish Theater Company with likeminded artists. 24/6 is a home for Sabbath-observant artists in New York which is committed to cultivating innovative theater grounded in a rigorous engagement with Jewish tradition.

Genesis
Essay

Genesis

Why Write Jewish Plays?—A Talmudic Inquiry*

12 March 2014

In this installation, Deborah Yarchun sheds insight on the importance of Jewish theatre in the United States. 

Photo from Yellow Face.
Why is Jewish Theater Producing Asian American Plays?
Essay

Why is Jewish Theater Producing Asian American Plays?

12 March 2014

We chose to do "Yellow Face" because of the meaningful questions it raises about the parameters of identity. We chose to do "Yellow Face" because of the revealing and resonant glimpse it gives at immigrant families in the United States; because of its multi-layered examination of the “American Dream”; because of the uproarious and irreverent way it uses humor to expose darker themes. We chose to do "Yellow Face" because clearly, it’s a Jewish play!

Photo from Cave...A Dance for Lilith.
What Makes Theater Jewish?
Essay

What Makes Theater Jewish?

11 March 2014

What make theater Jewish? This strikes me as just as complex a query as, “What makes a person Jewish?” or, for that matter, “What makes theater?”

Toward a Jewish Theater?
Essay

Toward a Jewish Theater?

10 March 2014

Despite the fact that I have never thought of myself as an artist engaged in an exploration of my own background, I have somehow, almost inadvertently authored a trilogy of plays (over twelve years and separated by five other plays) about the search for faith, each of which features an atheist, or at least hard-questioning Jew.

Jewish Theater
Essay

Jewish Theater

Every Good Question Deserves Another Question

9 March 2014

In this installation, David Winitsky offers a brief history of Jewish theatre and shares insight on its future.

#JewPlay
Essay

#JewPlay

Working Towards a Greater Jewish Theater

9 March 2014

I believe that the future of Jewish theater is in the hands of those who identify themselves as both practitioners and Jews, but independently of one another. It is not about the Jewish theater practitioners, but rather about the theater practitioners who are Jewish. Since being a Jew doesn’t mean it’ll change the type of theater you do or how you do it, we need to focus on the fact that being Jewish changes your approach to it. And much like alumni of a certain school of acting have a type of shorthand with one another, so do a group of Jews.

"Creating the New American Musical"
Video

"Creating the New American Musical"

A conversation with Charles Busch, Abigail Poegrebin, and Gordon Greenberg at the Philadelphia Theatre Company

Thursday 8 March 2012
Philadelphia, PA, United States

A conversation on "Creating the New American Musical" featuring Charles Busch, Abigail Poegrebin, Gordon Greenberg, and facilitated by Warren Hoffman livestreamed on HowlRound.TV Thursday, March 8, 2012.