Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE Yiddish THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S '
lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER'

1931-1969
 

Krolewska Theatre


"In the beginning of the century on Ulica Królewska (Krolewska Street) in Warsaw, not far from Zaksish Garden, there was a Polish summer theatre under the name of 'Teater Novi'. The theatre belonged to the Countess, and [during the] summer, would play there with a Polish-formed troupe. In 1908, after the summer season when the theatre may be dormant for the winter, both the building as well as the stage, not having been adopted for winter-time productions. The Yiddish theatre entrepreneur Moshe Weisfeld, fueled by the undertakings of the theatre, that one during the span of the winter be permitted to play in Yiddish, d'h 'German' theatre.

Weisfeld brought over the actor Sam Adler, who organized the following troupe: Sam Adler, Mark Meyerson, Leyzer Zhelazo, Boris Rosenthal, Adolf Berman, Jacob Shtshirin (latr the famous actor Ben-Ami), Gustav Schwartzbard, M. Kh. Titelman, Nadia Neroslavska, Schwartz (sister-in-law of Avraham Goldfaden), Mrs. Schwartzbard et al.

After preparing the stage and the hall for the winter productions, the theatre opened with Jacob Gordin's 'Der vilder mentsh (The Wild Man)'; later there was played Lateiner's 'Blimele' and Gordin's 'Brider luria', in which Zhelazo became very popular. The theatre was known by the Yiddish theatre world under the name 'Dos teater oyf Krulevsko (The Theatre on Krulevsko)'. It had, however, existed only for several months. The business was northing superior. The director was not a force to stop competition frp, another Yiddish theatre ('Jardin D'Hiver'), which played at the same time. The director had to scrimp expenses in staging plays and generally as such gringeshetst the audience, that they employed the repertoire, the sets of the governmental theatre, which was always within the authority of the theatre. They employed settings that were foreign to specific Yiddish repertoire (as from 'Carmen' to 'Blimele'), had more than once led with courage (?), and when the actors alerted the director that we must provide sets that fit the repertoire, and that we cannot make such fun of the theatre visitors, the half-assimilated director answered: 'They know to come anyway'. The audience, however, was nothing. A conflict broke out among the troupe and the director and among the members of the troupe itself, and the theatre, after several months, went dormant and again began functioning afterwards as a Polish farce theatre."

  • [--] -- -- History of Yiddish Theatre in Warsaw, "Teater-tsaytung", Warsaw, 1928, N' 5.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  'Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre' by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 3,  page 5117.
 

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