Yiddishpiel - the
Yiddish Theatre in Israel, was established in
1987 with the mission of restoring to Yiddish,
the language that had almost disappeared: its
charm, its popularity, and its glory, and to
make it the focus of a rich and significant
culture that is an important foundation stone in
the history of the Jewish nation.
Yiddish lives once
again on our stage, expressing the wisdom of
those who are no longer with us.
"In a world where conscience and compassion have
sunk to new depths, Yiddish has not died,
Yiddish has become the soul" (Haim Hefer).
Yiddishpiel was
founded by its Artistic Director Shmuel
Atzmon-Wircer, in response to a vital need to
re-establish the lost honor of the Yiddish
language and its culture, and to revive it. His
mission, that at first looked impossible, was
not well received and fell on deaf ears, but
behind him stood first-class social, financial
and artistic public figures, from the Ministry
of Education and Culture, the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa
Municipality, headed by the then Mayor Shlomo
Lahat (Tchitch), an enthusiastic supporter of
this idea. All these made the dream of Shmuel
Atzmon and his troupe of actors a reality. By
persevering, they succeeded in preserving and
reviving this cultural and historical treasure
and have broadened the scope of their
activities.
In November 2011,
Sassi Keshet was appointed the Executive and
Artistic Director of the theatre replacing
Shmuel Atzmon who was designated "President
Emeritus" by the public council, and he remains
involved in activities promoting the Yiddishpiel
Theatre.
More than eighty new
productions have been staged by the Yiddishpiel
Theatre until today, with performances throughout
the country. The theatre has earned
international recognition for its achievements
as a result of its steady participation in
dozens of international festivals the world over
in such cities as Montreal, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Los
Angeles, Wiesbaden, Kiev, Vilna, Moscow, Berlin,
Krakow, and many others.
The repertoire of
the theatre is extensive and varied. It ranges
from the classic works of Sholem Aleichem,
Avraham Goldfaden, Sholem Asch and Jacob Gordin,
to Itzik Manger, Issaac Bashevis-Singer, and
Shai Agnon, and includes Efraim Kishon, Yehoshua
Sobol, Yosef Bar-Yosef, Moti Averbuch, Aharon
Meged, Sami Gruniman and others. In addition,
world-class productions are staged including
works by Neil Simon, Alexander Galin, Edmond
Morris, Herb Gardner, and others.
The finest actors have performed in the
Yiddishpiel Theatre from its very onset,
including veteran Yiddish actors Yaacov Bodo,
Anabella, Uri Ayalon-Kowalski, and Monika
Vardimon. In recent years, they have been joined
by younger actors, Israeli-born as well as new
immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from
Romania and from Argentina. Most of them
learned Yiddish while performing at Yiddishpiel.
The Yiddishpiel
Theatre is thriving and successful. Yiddishpiel
puts on an alternating series of productions of
different genres, produces three to four new
shows each year, and gradually increases its
audience. Moreover, each year it attracts
younger and younger theatregoers to its
audience. In addition, tourists of all ages who
visit Israel from Europe, the United States of
America, Australia, and South Africa come
steadily to our theatre during their stay and
become excited from their first encounter with
their mother tongue. Yiddishpiel is a part of
the rich culture the diversified Israeli theatre
has to offer, and it is the only Yiddish theatre in
Israel.
In May 2009, a
"Yiddish Day" took place in the Knesset (The
Israeli Parliament) marking the twentieth
anniversary of the Yiddishpiel Theatre and the
one hundred and fiftieth birthday of Sholem
Aleichem, at which time a lobby was established
to advance the Yiddish language and culture in
the State of Israel in the twenty-first century.
The theatre
schedules various activities: some are a
contribution to the community, and others help preserve the Yiddish language and culture for
generations to come:
The "Theatre of
Benevolence" brings more than one hundred and
forty shows each year to old age homes and
geriatric institutions all over the country.
Each week, groups of actors perform before
senior citizens who are no longer able to attend
the theatre auditoriums.
Every year, the
theatre puts on special events on the occasion
of Yom Hashoah, the memorial day for the
Holocaust victims for whom Yiddish was their
main language. These evenings are in Yiddish,
with simultaneous translation into Hebrew.
The Yiddishpiel
Theatre, in association with the Society and
Youth Administration of the Ministry of
Education and the National Culture Basket, work
together to offer young people, pupils, and
educators in Yiddish culture, Yiddish
productions with simultaneous translation into
Hebrew, or the play itself is in Hebrew or Hebrew
intermingled with Yiddish.
Throughout the
years, Yiddishpiel has been awarded many prizes,
including the "Itzik Manger" prize (1977), the "Clore
Fund" prize (1998), the Israel Theatre award for
its contribution to advancing Yiddish culture
and thereby enriching the Israeli theatre
(1999), the Israeli theatre prize for best
comedy of the year "Golden Boys" (2001), a "Life
Achievement Award" for the director of the
theatre, Shmuel Atzmon (2004), for actor Yankele
Alperin (2001), and to the actor Yaacov Bodo
(2008), and it was awarded the Israeli theatre
prize for best entertaining production of the
year "Shining Stars" (2010).
Yiddishpiel
productions are subtitled with simultaneous
translations in Hebrew and in Russian. |
