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 – The Yiddish Theater in Israel – is the only Yiddish theater in Israel!
Yiddishpiel 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.
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. They succeeded in reviving and preserving a cultural and historical asset and brought us to the present day with more than 25 years of diverse activity by our theater.
Since 2015 the CEO of the theatre is Mr.Zelig Rabinovitz . the Artistic Director is Mr. Sassi Keshet.
More than 100 new productions have been staged by the Yiddishpiel Theater until today with performances throughout Israel. The theater also earned international recognition for its achievements, as a result of its steady participation in dozens of international festivals worldwide and winning a great number of international prizes.
The finest actors have performed and preforming in the Yiddishpiel
Theater from its very onset including veteran Yiddish actors such as
Yaakov Alperin, Yaakov 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 in the Yiddishpiel Theater. In addition to that, we also have
many leading guest-actors performing in our theater such as: Lea
Koenig, Miriam Zohar, Tuvia Tsafir, Mike Burstyn, Yona Elian-Keshet,
Dovele Glickman, Dudu Fischer, Ilan Dar, Odeya Koren and more.
The
repertoire of the theater is rich and diverse. It ranges from the
classic works of Sholem Aleichem, Abraham Goldfaden, Itzik Manger,
Sholem Asch and Jacob Gordin, through Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shai Agnon,
and to Hanoch Levin, Joshoua Sobol, Hillel Mittelpunkt, B. Michael,
Efraim Sidon and others. In addition to that, works from the global
repertoire are staged such as Samuel Becket, Nikolai Gogol, Neil Simon,
Willie Russell and many more.
The Yiddishpiel Theater is
flourishing: it performs several productions simultaneously from various
genres and succeeds to produce four to five new plays each year and is
gradually increasing its audience. Moreover, from year to year, the
audience became younger. Also tourists of all ages, who visit Israel
from Western Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the USA,
Australia and South Africa come to the theater’s performances during
their stay in Israel and are excited by the encounter with their mother
tongue. Yiddishpiel is part of the rich texture of the Israeli
repertoire theater and as aforementioned is the only Yiddish theater in
Israel!
Apart from its repertoire the theater holds various activities, some
are a contribution to the community, and others preserve the Yiddish
language and culture for generations to come:
– “The Chesed (Grace)
Theater” – the theater puts on 150 performances annually in senior
citizen homes and in geriatric institutions throughout Israel. Each
week, groups of actors perform before holocaust survivors who are no
longer able to attend the theater halls.
– At the annual assembly for
the Holocaust Memorial and Martyrs Remembrance Day – which is held
every year the theater puts on special performances as well as on Yom
Hashoa – the Memorial Day for the Holocaust victims for whom Yiddish was
their main language. These events are open to the general public and
are presented in Yiddish accompanied by simultaneous translation into
Hebrew for those who do not understand Yiddish.
– Plays for high
school students – the Yiddishpiel Theater together with the Ministry of
Education of Israel and “Sal Tarbut Artzy” (National Arts Educational
Program), have joined a project which purpose is to bring adolescents,
students and educators closer to the Yiddish culture, by plays performed
in Hebrew which is integrated with Yiddish and accompanied by
translation into Hebrew, Russian and Arabic.
All Yiddishpiel performances are performed in Yiddish and accompanied by translations into Hebrew, Russian and any additional languages according to the locations where the theater performs worldwide.
The Yiddishpiel Theater is a non-profit organization and is supported by the following organizations:
