This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish theater, the performing art done everywhere from small indie venues to Broadway, in Yiddish, English, and other languages.
Theater
The Latest
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Theater Stephen Tobolowsky has a Talmud story to tell you
For over a decade Stephen Tobolowsky has been sharing stories. Have you heard the one about his Talmud collection? The 70-year-old actor, known for his turns as a folksy insurance salesman in “Groundhog Day” and a hapless tech sociopath in “Silicon Valley,” has written two books, hosts a podcast and is now debuting an audio…
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Yiddish World Sholem Asch’s groundbreaking play, “God of Vengeance”, now streaming in English
An artful online video adaptation of Sholem Asch’s groundbreaking 1906 Yiddish play, “God of Vengeance”, is now streaming through May 31, 2021. The 100-minute video is in English. The play, known in Yiddish as “Got fun nekome”, tells the story of a seemingly observant Jewish couple and their daughter Rivkeleh who live upstairs in their…
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Culture Rolf Hochhuth, playwright who challenged the Vatican’s WWII legacy, dies at 89
Rolf Hochhuth, the controversial German dramatist whose play “The Deputy” sparked protests and ignited an ongoing reappraisal of Pope Pius XII’s World War II-era legacy, died May 13 at his home in Berlin. He was 89 years old. In the 1950s, Hochhuth began studying the history of the Third Reich, which had risen to power…
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News In Chicago Theatre, The Play’s the Thing for Both Sides in Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Ken Kaissar was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and grew up in a right-wing Jewish household in Indianapolis. His father fought in three Israeli wars—1956, 1967, and 1973—and growing up, Kaissar was told that Israel was in perpetual danger and that, as he put it, “the Arabs wanted to kill us and destroy us.” As…
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Community A Director’s Undying Tribute to the Iconic Elie Wiesel
For the 85th birthday of Professor Wiesel, I was asked to write a small essay to present my first encounter with Elie Wiesel. This article was published in the book “Take a Teacher, Make a Friend,” special edition for the 85th anniversary of Elie Wiesel, published by Boston University in 2014. Today, after his death,…
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Culture How ‘Aladdin’ Became A Hanukkah Musical
Over Christmas last year, the New Wimbledon Theatre in South London staged — as many English theaters do this time of year — the story of “Aladdin.” The comedienne Jo Brand played the Genie; former “Britain’s Got Talent” contestants Flawless were the Peking Police Force; and faded television presenter Matthew Kelly donned a dress to…
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Culture The Dybbuks Made Me Do It
If there had been stand-up comedy in the shtetl, “The dybbuk made me do it!” could very well have been a popular catchphrase. The myth of an innocent person turning to evil because a demon has taken possession of his or her body is common to all cultures, but it has deep roots in Jewish…
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Culture Bryna Wasserman Picked To Lead National Jewish Theater
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “There are no second acts in American lives.” But there are second acts, apparently, in Yiddish theater lives. In late June, the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene announced that Bryna Wasserman, formerly the head of Montreal’s Segal Centre for Performing Arts, will take over as executive director, joining the Folksbiene’s artistic…
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