Vilna Troupe

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The Vilna Troupe (a.k.a. Vilner Troupe) were one of the most famous theatrical companies in the history of Yiddish theater. Distinctly modernist, and strongly influenced by Russian literature and by the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavski, their travels in Western Europe and later to Romania played a significant role in the dissemination of a disciplined approach to acting that continues to be influential down to the present day.

Founded in Vilnius (Vilna) in 1915[1] in the midst of World War I, the troupe soon moved to Warsaw. Their repertoire epitomized the second golden age of Yiddish theater, with works by S. Ansky, Sholom Aleichem, and Sholem Asch, but also by Molière, Maxim Gorky, Henrik Ibsen, plus some Jewish-themed plays by non-Jews, notably Karl Gutzkow's Uriel Acosta.[2]

They were the first to stage Ansky's The Dybbuk. The Dybbuk was originally written in Russian, but Stanislavski suggested to Ansky that for the sake of authenticity he should translate it into Yiddish. At the time of Ansky's death, November 8, 1920, the play was complete but had never been professionally produced. As a tribute to Ansky, the Vilna troupe utilised the 30-day period of mourning after his death to prepare the play, which opened December 9, 1920, at the Elyseum Theatre in Warsaw. It's unanticipated success established the play as a classic of modern Yiddish theater.

They toured extensively. In late summer 1926 they were at New York City's Liptzin Theater performing Rasputin and the Czarina.[3] Prior to that time, they had already played in London and Paris.[4]

Among the members of the troupe were Joseph Green, later one of the few Yiddish-language filmmakers.[5] Director Jakob Rotbaum began his professional career staging Eugene O'Neill with the troupe in 1930.[6]

Contents

[edit] Bucharest

In 1923, the Vilna troupe came to Bucharest at the invitation of Isidor Goldenberg of the Jigniţa Theater. At the time, the troupe included actresses Hanna Braz, Luba Kadison, Helene Gottlieb, Judith Lares, Hanna Mogel, and Miriam Orleska and actors Alexander Stein, Joseph Buloff, Aizic Samberg, Joseph Kamen, Jacob Weislitz, Leib Kadison, Samuel Schäftel, Benjamin Ehrenkrantz, and Haim Brakasch. The director of the company was Mordechai Mazo.

According to Israil Bercovici, their disciplined approach to theater impacted not only Romanian Yiddish theater but Romanian theater generally. Their audience went beyond the usual attendees of Yiddish theater: they drew the attention of the Romanian-language press, the Romanian theater world, and of "men of culture" generally. For example, an article August 23, 1924 in the daily newspaper Adevărul wrote that "Such a demonstration of artistry, even on a small stage such as Jigniţa and even in a language like Yiddish ought to be seen by all who are interested in superior realization of drama."

This artistic praise did not pay the bills, and touring elsewhere in Romania only made the financial picture worse. Their fortunes were salvaged by a 1925 production of Osip Dymov's Der Zingher fun Zain Troirer (The Singer of His Own Tears), created in collaboration with Jacob Sternberg's troupe. Another critical success — Victor Eftimiu called it "a model of stylized realist theater" — it was also an unprecedented hit, and ran at length at Bucharest's Central Theater.

Writing in the Warsaw Yiddish language Literarishe Bleter during the run of Der Zingher…, Joseph Buloff was amazed at the positive reception that Yiddish theater received among the Gentiles of Bucharest. He remarked that the Romanian actor Tanţi Cutava was equally comfortable acting in French and Yiddish as in his native Romanian, that he often hear ethnic Romanians sing a song from Yiddish theater over a glass of wine, that Romanian writers and artists invited Yiddish actors to their get-togethers. Apparently, this formed a stark contrast to Warsaw at the same time.

Der Zingher… was followed by successful Bucharest productions of David Pinsky's Melech David un Zaine Froien (King David and His Women) and Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse. Pressured, in part, by a 32% tax on performances by foreign troupes, by the end of 1925, the troupe had decided to reconstitute themselves as a Bucharest-based troupe, taking the Romanian-language name Drama şi Comedie.

[edit] Drama şi Comedie

"The wandering troupe from Vilna will stay put... after an era of prolonged touring," reported Integral. "They will fix on a program, which will no longer oscillate between melodrama and an expressionist mural. Apparently, the prospect launched today is precise: a new group tending to go along the route of modern innovation. 'No compromise with lack of taste — no compromise with bad taste': a shout that justfifies an existence and would be worthy of realization."[7]

The "no compromise" slogan came from the statement of program, really more of an artistic manifesto, with which the reconstituted group launched itself. The same document also declared the troupe's intent "to offer the masses and intellectuals simultaneously an institution of culture". The new troupe included actresses Braz, Luba Kadison, Lares, Orleska and actors Stein, Buloff, Kamen, Weislitz, Leib Kadison, Schäftel from the 1923 roster, plus additional actresses including Noemi Nathan and Joheved Weislitz, and actors including Jehuda Ehrenkranz, Samuel Irish, Simha Nathan, Sholom Schönbaum, Henry Tarlo, and Simi Weinstock.

However, Drama şi Comedie would play only one full season of theater (1925–1926), with some remnants struggling on another year. Their productions, beginning with Alter Kacyzne's Ger tzedek (The Neophyte) and including Nikolai Gogol's The Wedding, were critically acclaimed, but they never matched the commercial success of Der Zingher.... After the sudden and unexpected death of actress Judith Lares, director Mazo left for Warsaw and then Vilna. The troupe continued briefly with Luigi Pirandello's Man, Beast, and Virtue in the 1926–1927 season.

After the breakup of Drama şi Comedie, a play The Flood was put on at the Baraşeum theater, which was loosely the story of the Vilna troupe.

[edit] Members

  • Alexander Asro
  • Jacob Lubotsky
  • Matus Kowalski
  • Sonia Alomis
  • Lea Naomi
  • Miriam Veide
  • Joseph Greenberg
  • Chaim Shneier
  • Sholom Tanin
  • Moses Feder
  • Noah Nachbush
  • Jacob Bleifer
  • Freda Vitalin
  • Pola Walter

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ [Bercovici 1998] p.125. Liptzin says 1916. [Liptzin 1972] p.411
  2. ^ [Bercovici 1998] p. 125-126
  3. ^ "75 Years Ago", The Forward, August 31, 2001.
  4. ^ [Bercovici 1998] p.126
  5. ^ Edelman 2003
  6. ^ Steinlauf 1993
  7. ^ [Bercovici 1998] p.132-133

[edit] References