''An Old Jew'' is an 1894 play by the British writer
Sydney Grundy. It opened at the
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...
in London on 6 January 1894 with its original run ending less than a month later on 3 February. The play was written for one of the leading
actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used co ...
's of the era
John Hare. The play was revived on several occasions, beginning the following year at the
Coronet Theatre under the alternative title of ''Julius Sterne'', the name of the main character.
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he m ...
a future stage star, made his debut in the play with a very small role.
It was the most sympathetic play to the Jewish community by a non-Jew since
Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to:
* Richard Cumberland (philosopher) (1631–1718), bishop, philosopher
* Richard Cumberland (dramatist) (1732–1811), civil servant, dramatist
* Richard Cumberland (priest) (1710–1737), Archdeacon of Northa ...
's ''
The Jew
''The Jew'' is a comedy written by playwright Richard Cumberland and first presented at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in May 1794. The play is notable as the first play in the English theatre to portray a Jewish moneylender as the hero of a ...
'' exactly a century earlier. This was widely recognised by Jewish intellectuals of the era.
[Nanshon p.137-39]
References
Bibliography
* Nanshon, Edna. ''Jewish Theatre: A Global View''. BRILL, 2009.
1894 plays
Plays by Sydney Grundy
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