325 E. 6th Street מאמע–לשון לעבט
New York, NY 10003
917 670-1631
Trains: F to 2nd Ave., 6 to Astor, L to 1st Ave., Q to 8th St.
Downtown's Upstart Yiddish Theater
Franz Kafka, after attending a Yiddish play.
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325 E. 6th Street מאמע–לשון לעבט New York, NY 10003 917 670-1631 Trains: F to 2nd Ave., 6 to Astor, L to 1st Ave., Q to 8th St. Downtown's Upstart Yiddish Theater |
"I will tell you, ladies and gentlemen, how much better you understand Yiddish than you imagine."
Franz Kafka, after attending a Yiddish play. |
 In the ruins of the ghetto of Warsaw, among heaps of charred rubbish, there was found, packed tightly into a small bottle, the following testament, written during the ghetto’s last hours by a Jew named Yosl Rakover. David Mandelbaum as Yosl Rakover For twenty years the story of Yosl Rakover was believed to be an eyewitness account of the ghetto's last hours, and the true story of a pious Jew whose fate it was to die fighting the beasts that destroyed his world. In the hours before his death he reconsiders his relationship with G-d and concludes that although his relationship with G-d has changed, his faith in Him remains, and his love for Him burns as strongly as ever. The story was actually written in 1946, by Tzvi Kolitz, a young Palestinian who as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress traveled extensively to speak on behalf of the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. His clandestine purpose was to recruit fighters for the Irgun, of which he was a member. While in Argentina, he was asked to write an article for a Yiddish paper in Buenas Aires for their special Yom kippur edition. The result was Yosl Rakover Speaks to G-d. Through a set of bizzare circumstances the story was republished in an Israeli Yiddish journal without his name on it, and was assumed to be real. It has since been recognized as one of the classics of Holocaust literature, been translated into many languages, and been the subject of essays by theologians and philosophers. Adapted for the stage and performed by David Mandelbaum, it makes for powerful and compelling theater. In Yiddish with English Supertitles. |
The EssenceA Yiddish Theater Dim Sum in English and Yiddish with supertitle translation Steve Sterner Yelena Shmulenson Allen Lewis Rickman "The Essence" is a ninety-minute entertainment that is designed to introduce Yiddish theater to new audiences and to expose older patrons to the history of the form. Using scenes, songs, and anecdotal material, the program traces that history and shows how it relates to the history of the Jewish people from the 1870's to today, with humor, with melody, and with sympathy; as the saying goes, you'll laugh and you'll cry. "The Essence" was created and is performed by Allen Lewis Rickman, Steve Sterner, and Yelena Shmulenson-Rickman, three of the youngest veterans of Yiddish theater. |
 What's a nice goy like you doing in a show like this?An absolutely hilarious combination of magic, tall tales, hypnosis,and riveting recitation, our resident gentile Shane Baker takes us on a trip down memory lane to the vanished world of Yiddish vaudeville. In English and Yiddish with English Supertitles. |
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Eva's Song 
An enchanting one woman show, Anita Keal recalls the life and times of her grandmother.
The show, which is in English but contains songs in Yiddish (and Russian), is a collection of stories about the immigrants of 1914. “The idea hit me when I was thinking about my granddaughter,” said Keal. “She never had a chance to know her great-grandparents, and I wanted to help her connect to them.” The play was written by Angelo Parra, who wrote “The Devil’s Music: The Life And Death of Bessie Smith”, and directed by Joe Brancato, director of “Tryst”, “Cobb”, and “2 1/2 Jews”. (The New York Times hailed Brancato “one of America’s most insightful directors”.)
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ABSOLUTELY ANNA Ever wonder what it was like to work with people like Mae West, Walter Mathau, Woody Allen, Sid Ceaser, John Garfield, Art Carney, Frederic March, and others too numerous to mention. Or what it was like to be there in the early days of the actors studio when Marlon Brando was cutting his teeth on method acting. In her one woman show Anna Berger, whose career spans 50 years, tells the story of a young girl's journey from the lower east side to Broadway and Hollywood.
In English. There will be a Q & A after the show. Anna's TV credits are numerous and include such classics as THE GOLDBERGS, RHODA, LAW AND ORDER, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, and THE SOPRANOS. Her Broadway career includes Tennessee Williams' THE ROSE TATOO, GIDEON with Frederic March, Cliford Odets' THE FLOWERING PEACH with Menashe Skulnick, and a VERY SPECIAL BABY with Jack Klugman, Luther Adler, and Sylvia Sidney. She has also toured in PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE with Art Carney and Sid Caeser and Clifford Odets' GOLDEN BOY with John Garfield in his memorable last stage performance. Among her favorite films she has appeared in are Woody Allen's CRIMES AND MISDEMEANERS and THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3. |
Straight from the former Soviet UnionPsoy Oy Oy!!! Listen to Psoy At home in the global diaspora, four fun filled evenings of stories, songs and mishigass, with poet-singer-songwriter-performance artist and fellow traveler Psoy Korolenko. To Psoy the Jewish experience is not only a personal story, but also a metaphor of transcultural identity and ultimate otherness. He sings and tumults in English, Russian, French, and Yiddish. Saturday, November 15th at 10 PM Saturday, December 13th at 8 PM Saturday, January 3rd, at 8 PM Saturday, January 10th at 8 PM Psoy Korolenko, charismatic Russian/Jewish multilingual poet-singer, performance artist, and fellow traveler in the global diaspora, brings his talents to the New Yiddish Rep’s stage in a series of four appearances. His unique one-man show balances folk, klezmer, rap, sound poetry and intellectual cabaret/comedy. As a writer and scholar he is known for his interest in otherness, diaspora, territory, minorities, and borderlines. The Jewish experience is to him not only a personal story, but also a metaphor of transcultural identity and ultimate otherness. He sings in English, Russian, French, and Yiddish. Two of his eight CDs recontextualise klezmer - 'Un Vo Iz Der Onheyb Fun Foterland' ("Where is the beginning of the Fatherland"-Soviet Pop Classics in Yiddish translation and Klezmer arrangements, with the All Stars Klezmer Band, Russia -Urkaine - Germany, 2006) and 'The Unternationale' (with Daniel Kahn, US/Germany and Oy Division, Israel, 2008). Recently, he has been working with Alena Arenkova and Yana Ovrutskaya on a new CD of Yiddish songs set to Kadia Mol odovsky's poems. A Phd. in Slavic literature, he has been a participant, and guest and lecturer at many Klezfests in Russia and took part in the program 'East Meets West' at Klezkanada-2006. He participated in the Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakov (2005) presenting a show together with Kharkov Klezmer Band. He often performs all over Russia, as well as in Israel and the USA. Saturday, November 15, at 10 PM TUMID ZOL ZAYN DER ZUN HOYKH: An Evening of Soviet Pop Hits in Yiddish, translated by Ayzik Bargteyl and Arn Vergelis, original Soviet Yiddish songs, Jewish songs by Psoy, Ayzik Bargteyl and other contemporary authors in English, Yiddish and Russian. In memory of Ayzik Bargteyl, z''l, the Yiddish poet and translator from Perm, Russia. Saturday, December 13, at 8 PM SPELL-ART. Foreign Element in Songs. The focus is the use of foreign languages in Yiddish songs, as well as the use of Yiddish references in a non-Yiddish performance. The influence of musically 'foreign' elements is represented as well. Saturday, January 3, at 8 PM TSU VOS YIDDISH, AZ MIR ZAYNEN SAY-VI YIDN? Yiddish, Russian, English and Gibberish songs by Psoy Korolenko and his new remakes of Tumbalalaika, Hava Nagila, Abi Gezunt, Ba Mir Bistu Sheyn and other Yiddish 'Default' Hits... And more! Saturday January 10th at 8 PM DI VELT DURKH YIDISHE OYGN (The World through Jewish Eyes). International Hits in Jewish/Yiddish Culture. Music & Video. New Yiddish Rep gladly accepts donations after the show. There is no admission charge. |