''Mirele Efros'' was an 1898

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

play by

Jacob Gordin Jacob Michailovitch Gordin (Yiddish: יעקב מיכאַילאָװיטש גאָרדין; May 1, 1853 – June 11, 1909) was a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater. He is known for introducing realism an ...

. Some have called it "the Jewish Queen Lear". The title character is a powerful matriarch who becomes bitterly estranged from her own family. Lulla Rosenfeld, in her commentary to

Jacob Adler Jacob Pavlovich Adler (Yiddish: יעקבֿ פּאַװלאָװיטש אַדלער; born Yankev P. Adler; February 12, 1855 – April 1, 1926)IMDB biography was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and ...

's memoir, describes the central character as part of a tradition running at least from Solomon Ettinger's ''Serkele'' (1825) to

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

' ''

Awake and Sing ''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935. Summary and characters The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...

'' (1935). The title role was, according to Rosenfeld, "performed by every leading Yiddish actress".Adler/Rosenfeld (2001). Rosenfeld's commentary
p. 260
It was originally played by Keni Liptzin, during the first heyday of

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic rev ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It was also notably played by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

actress Esther Rachel Kaminska, who performed the part in New York in 1912. The Liptzin production had David Kessler as Mirele's son and Dinah Feinman (the former wife of

) as her daughter-in-law Shaindl. A silent Yiddish film based on the play was produced in Warsaw, in 1912, directed by Andrzej Marek (Mark Arnstein) and starring Esther Rachel Kaminska, along with her daughter

Ida Kaminska Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy *Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing * Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

. A film adaptation of the play was made in the United States in 1939. It was directed by

Josef Berne Josef Berne (January 19, 1904 – December 19, 1964) was a Russian-born American writer, film director and producer. Berne was born Josef Berstein on January 19, 1904, in Kyiv, Russia (now Ukraine). He also wrote and directed Yiddish langu ...

with

Berta Gersten Berta Gersten born Berta Gerstenman (1894 – September 10, 1972) was an American actor in Yiddish theater and later in Broadway productions. She took a major role in ''The Benny Goodman Story'' film in 1954. Life Gersten was born in Kraków in ...

in the title role and Ruth Elbaum as Shaindl. It was made in

with English subtitles.Mirele Efros
.

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. imdb.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14.

Plot

The title character, Mirele, is a fifty-year-old widow when the play begins who, over the last several decades, salvaged her late husband's failing business. Honest, hardworking, and astute, but also autocratic, her authority is challenged by her daughter-in-law Shaindl, who insists that it is time that her husband, Mirele's son, inherit the business. The inheritance is given—the house as well—but grudgingly, in such a manner as to cut off Mirele from her family. She takes refuge with her faithful steward, Kalman, towards whom she continues to behave as an autocrat. Ten years later Shaindl, her marriage and the business both going poorly, attempts to heal the breach in time for her son's '' bar mitzvah''. Mirele refuses, but after Shaindl's departure she collapses in grief. Ultimately, the boy successfully approaches her on the day of his ''bar mitzvah'' and convinces her to come. Despite its tragic,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an tone, the play, atypically for Gordin, ends happily, with song and dance.

References

Readings

* Adler, Jacob, ''A Life on the Stage: A Memoir'', translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, {{ISBN, 0-679-41351-0. 259-261 (commentary) Yiddish plays Plays and musicals based on King Lear 1898 plays Plays by Jacob Gordin