Yiddish Lear Returns

Next week, one of the most famous Yiddish plays of all time is making its return to New York (no, not Fiddler in Yiddish, that’s later this year).

In 1892, playwright Jacob Gordin premiered The Yiddish King Lear. It is not a translation of the original play; rather, it retells the Shakespearean tragedy as the struggles of a renowned rabbi with his children, who represent disparate types of Jewry, from Hasidic to secularized. (The titular patriarch is considered one of the meatiest roles in Yiddish theatre; it defined the legendary Jacob Adler’s career.) Now, the play returns as a staged reading to Manhattan, for two nights only. And stay tuned— you could go see it.

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