Yiddishpiel (combination of "Yiddish" and "spiel" - "play"), is a

Yiddish theatre 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 revues ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

was established in 1987 at the initiative of former Tel Aviv mayor

Shlomo Lahat Shlomo "Chich" Lahat ( he, שלמה להט; November 9, 1927 – October 1, 2014) was a major general in the Israel Defense Forces and former Head of the Manpower Directorate. He served as the eighth mayor of Tel Aviv in 1974–1993, for four co ...

, Chairman of

Mercantile Discount Bank Mercantile Discount Bank ( he, בנק מרכנתיל דיסקונט בע"מ) is a major commercial bank in Israel, and is a subsidiary of Israel Discount Bank. It is the sixth largest bank in Israel. Controversies Involvement in Israeli sett ...

Moshe Noiderfer, and Shmuel Etsyon, who also served as its chairman and artistic director until November 2011, when he was replaced by Sasi Keshet. Yiddishpiel's main goals are to commemorate and keep

Yiddishkeit Yiddishkeit ( yi, ייִדישקייט ) literally means "Jewishness", i.e. "a Jewish way of life". It can refer to Judaism or forms of Orthodox Judaism when used by religious or Orthodox Jews. In a more general sense, it has come to mean the "Je ...

alive. The theater has a regular audience, most of which consists of relatively old people. The theater's offices are located on Carlebach Road 7, Tel Aviv. In 1996, the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

approved a bill establishing a national authority for Yiddish and

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * The register of Judaeo-Spanish used in the translation of religious texts, such as the Ferrara Bible *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especi ...

(Judeo-Spanish) culture, whose role is to create a strong base for the two languages and their cultures in Israel. Since its establishment, the theater has performed 42 productions in front of large audiences in Israel and in other countries. Throughout the years, the theater has performed in Israeli festivals as well as important foreign festivals and has taken the stage in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. The theater has a wide selection of actors, including veterans such as Yaakov Bodo and

Yaakov Alperon Yaakov Alperon ( he, יעקב אלפרון; February 18, 1955 – November 17, 2008) was an Israeli mobster, head of the Alperon criminal family, which became one of the largest organized crime syndicates in Israel, until his assassination by car ...

, and younger actors, who serve as the successors of Yiddish theater and culture, among them Dudu Fischer, Gadi Yagil,

Anat Atzmon Anat Atzmon ( he, ענת עצמון, born 27 November 1958) is an Israeli actress and singer. Biography Atzmon was born and raised in Tel Aviv. She is the daughter of the theater actor Shmulik Atzmon. In her childhood her father exposed her to ...

, Monica Vardimon, Jonathan Rozen,

Yoni Eilat Yoni Eilat ( he, יוני אילת; November 5, 1975) is an Israeli actor and singer. Eilat is a graduate of Beit Zvi, the Academy of Performing Arts in Israel. He has been performing since 2001 in different theater productions, children's plays a ...

, and Amitai Kedar. Actor Carol Marcovicz also performed at Yiddishpiel until his death in 2006. Repertory plays by a variety of

playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

are brought to the stage at the theater. Throughout every play, there are

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

subtitles, as well as audio, for the benefit of those who do not speak Yiddish. In each theatrical season, Yiddishpiel presents four new plays, one per quarter. Some of the plays presented are by playwrights such as

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 nation ...

, Moliere, and others, translated into Yiddish; other plays are adapted into Yiddish (by

Shalom Aleichem ''Shalom aleichem'' (; he, שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם, ; ) is a spoken greeting in Hebrew, meaning " peace be upon you". The appropriate response is ("unto you peace") ( he, עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם). The plural form "" is used eve ...

and others); and others are local plays (by

Yehoshua Sobol Joshua Sobol ( he, יהושע סובול; born 24 August 1939), is an Israeli playwright, writer, and theatre director. Biography Joshua Sobol was born in Tel Mond. His mother's family fled the pogroms in Europe in 1922 and his father's family imm ...

and others).

Prizes

*The "Entertainment Award of the Year" 2010 for the play "Sparkling Stars", chosen as the year's most entertaining play by members of the academy of the Israeli Theater Prize of 2010. *"Comedy of the Year" 2001 for the play "Golden Youth" by Neil Simon, chosen as the year's best comedy by members of the academy of the Israeli Theater Prize of 2001. *The "Theater Prize" of 1999, for the theater's work in promoting and enhancing Israeli theater, given by Shim'on Peres. *"Keren Klor Prize" 1998, given to the theater at the president's residence Jubilee to the Independence of Israel party for bringing Yiddish theater into the lives of the Israeli audience and the elderly. *"

Itzik Manger Prize The Itzik Manger Prize for outstanding contributions to Yiddish literature was established in 1968, shortly before Itzik Manger's death in 1969. Manger "was and remains one of the best-known twentieth-century Yiddish poets." The Prize has been desc ...

" 1997, given to the theater for their original plays in Yiddish.

References

External links

Yiddishpiel official website
{{coord, 32.0733, N, 34.7710, E, source:wikidata, display=title 1987 establishments in Israel Theatres in Israel Theatres in Tel Aviv Yiddish culture in Tel Aviv Yiddish theatre

Prizes

References

Further reading

External links