Sokher Goldstein (c. 1859 – 1887), first name also spelled Suher, Soher, Socher, or Sukher, was a singer and actor, one of the founding performers in

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 revu ...

. A Jew, presumably of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n origin, nothing is known about his life before Abraham Goldfaden recruited him in Iaşi in 1876 as the second actor after

Israel Grodner Israel (Yisrol) Grodner ( yi, ישראל גראָדנער; ca. 1848 – 1887) was one of the founding performers in Yiddish theater. A Lithuanian Jew who moved at the age of 16 to Berdychiv, Ukraine, Russian Empire, the Broder singer and actor ...

for what became the first professional Yiddish theater troupe. Goldstein participated in the performance at Gradina Pomul Verde ("the Green Fruit-Tree Garden") that is often accounted the first professional Yiddish theater performance. Most likely, the piece by Goldfaden that was performed was a semi-improvised

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

called ''Dos Bintl Holts'', "The Bundle of Wood". Goldstein participated in a tour with Goldfaden to Botoşani, Galaţi,

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

, and finally

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where the troupe settled for about two years. According to Joel Berkowitz, " isboyish face landed him all the women’s roles until the troupe took on its first actress a few months later." erkowitz, 2004, 12That actress was the young Sara Segal, whom he met and married in Galaţi (upon marriage, she took the name Sofia Goldstein; after his death, she remarried and became famous as Sofia Karp). (''See

Sophia Karp Sophia Karp (1861– March 31, 1904), born Sara Segal, and also known as Sophie Goldstein, Sofia Carp, and Sophie Karp, was a Romanian-born Jewish actress and soprano, the first professional Yiddish theater actress. Life and career She wa ...

for more about the marriage.'') In Bucharest, he performed for Goldfaden and other theater directors. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. dler, 1999, 86 (commentary)

References

* Adler, Jacob, ''A Life on the Stage: A Memoir'', translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, . 64 (commentary), 86 (commentary). * Bercovici, Israil, ''O sută de ani de teatru evreiesc în România'' ("One hundred years of Yiddish/Jewish theater in Romania"), 2nd Romanian-language edition, revised and augmented by Constantin Măciucă. Editura Integral (an imprint of Editurile Universala), Bucharest (1998). . 61. *Berkowitz, Joel
Avrom Goldfaden and the Modern Yiddish Theater: The Bard of Old Constantine
''Pakn Treger'', no. 44, Winter 2004, 10-19. {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Sokher 1850s births 1887 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Romanian Ashkenazi Jews Yiddish theatre performers Tuberculosis deaths in Romania