Il teatro Yiddish in America

Beside literature, Yiddish drama is the most outstanding part of Yiddish culture. Yiddish drama begins in Germany in 1711 with the publication of Mekirat Yosef (Sale of Joseph) by Baerman Limburg. A farce, Der Falsche Kaschtan by Saphir, follows in 1820 but only during the 1830s a first development of Yiddish Theatre is registered in Warsaw. The real Yiddish theatre, however, begins with Goldfaden who, about 1875, first established a permanent Yiddish theatre venue in Iasi, near Bucharest, Romania. After the Russian progroms and the beginning of the so-called “Third Diaspora”, the Yiddish theatre migrates to USA as well. Since then Yiddish theatre increased its activities reaching soon a prominent position in the New York showbiz. This essay is intended to provide an overview of such unique experience, from its very beginning to contemporary productions.

Il contributo vuole tracciare una storia del teatro Yiddish e, in particolare, del suo sviluppo e della sua fortuna in America.