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which
made a strong impression on him, and teased his
imagination.
Having learned a little German,
Polish and Russian from his mother (he later learned
from her the German translation of Mendelssohn's
Tanakh), He secretly read books in these languages
that he found in his grandmother's attic, and in
this way he got to know Russian and German classics (Schiller
et al.).
When his father moved to Kapulye,
Shomer received the possibility to learn with a rabbi,
who was a maskil, who gave him Haskalah books to read.
But his pious mother soon takes him away from the rabbi.
Wandering then through various yeshivas, Shomer
stopped at the age of seventeen in the Wallachia
yeshiva, where he became captivated by the Haskalah
movement and began to write in Hebrew. He composed a
novel in four parts, "Ahavas kdm (First Love?)," and a book under the
title, "Hri bshmim," but he doesn't even have anyone to
show it to.
In 1866 he got married in the
village of Plotkin with Dinah, the daughter of the Pinsk
community leader and the would-be lawyer Mikhl Bertshinski. Shomer
settled in Pinsk (as a supported son-in-law) and made friends with the maskilim and writer Avraham-Chaim
Rosenberg, Dovid-Ber Dubzevich, Zvi Hirsch Masliansky,
and Moshe-Aaron Schatzkes. In the summer of 1869 he
published an article in "Ha-Melits," "Aukhli pirut
shukhni etsim," and then a series of other articles.
During the nine years that he sat, supported by his
mother-in-law, he began to deal in boards, nut having no
head for trade, he laid the whole burden [?]. He now tried
to teach children, living under a large pressure,
until he is called out in 1876 his rich uncle,
Yekhiel Vigodsky in Vilna, where he went to write
and became known to the writer Joseph Feunn,
the editor of the journal "Ha-Carmel," with his Hebrew novel
"Zchti Haynkbizitsih." On Feunn's advice
Shomer began to write in Yiddish, and in the course of
one night he composed a short novel, "Makhatunim un
shunayim," which was written about his own in-laws and relatives
under the pseudonym of Shm"r (the first letter of his
family name, and the last letter of his first name).
Feunn was enthralled by the story and ordered more from
him, and in the course of nine days Shomer wrote
nine stories in Yiddish that were exceptionally
successful and later were republished in other editions, and the name
"Shm"r" became popular.
Meanwhile the
Russian-Turkey War broke out. His uncle acquired many
contracts, and Shomer became one of his "podriatshikes,"
initially in Russia, then in Bucharest, Romania, where he
met Abraham Goldfaden with his newly formed Yiddish
theatre, which made a great impression on him.
After the war Shomer (1878) settled in Odessa, wherein
he brought his family and there began to collaborate in
Gottlober's "ha-Boker Or." Here he also composed his
first novel in Yiddish, "Der blutiker adye!," and soon
thereafter two novels, and a year later still six
novels.
In the span of his forty literary years,
Shomer created and wrote over two hundred stories and
novels, which were distributed in tens of thousands of
copies and formed a Jewish mass reader. Being in his
time the most popular Yiddish writer, he evoked from one
side huge enthusiasm from the reader, and from the other
side, many critics and a lot of criticism and attacks
from writers and critics, such as A. Tsederbaum, H.
Levy, and especially from Simon Dubnow. Sholem Aleichem
issued a special brochure against him, "Shomers
mishpat." For a long time Shomer was listed as the
"father of shund" in the Yiddish literature years later,
and a complete revision and reassessment took place
in this regard (for an explanation about this, see
the fourth volume of Reisen's "Lexicon of Yiddish
Literature," A. Vieviorka's book, "Revizye," and the
book, "Undzer foter
Shm"r" by Rose Shomer-Bachelis and Miriam
Shomer-Zunzer, with articles by Avraham Reisen, Dr. S.
Melamed, Saul Ginsburg, Jacob Glatstein, Gershom Bader
and A. Vieviorka.)
When Shomer arrived
in Odessa in 1878, there happened to be a group of amateurs
playing Yiddish theatre under the management of the
corner-lawyer, Israel Rosenberg. Not having any
censored plays (according to the law), they had to call
the performances "literary events." When Goldfaden in
Romania heard this, that in Odessa Yiddish theatre was
being played, he soon traveled there with his troupe.
Rosenberg was very unhappy with Goldfaden's arrival,
with professional actors and with a repertoire. It
brought out a battle between them, and the result
was that the police closed Rosenberg's theatre.
After certain difficulties with the censor (for an
explanation about this, see the "Lexicon of Yiddish
Theatre," Volume1, pages 302-304), Goldfaden rented
the large Mariinsky Theatre and performed his play
there, but since he didn't live in peace with the
director of the theatre, Grikh Homer [sp], he left
the theatre and Homer by himself
brought in a new troupe of actors.
Shomer, who
often attended the productions, was excited for his
friend, the writer A.B. Gottlober, and wrote a play
for the new troupe. Shomer wrote about this (in his
article, "The History of Yiddish Theatre in Odessa,"
published in 1891 in " Der menshenfraynd (The
Philanthropist)":
"I began
to think what [I wanted] to write for a play, and to me I decided
that I should write a theatre piece about small-town
Litvak life, in which I should portray the fanaticism of
the small-town rabbis, the absurdity of the community
deputies, and also present some subjects from that dark
time."
His daughter Rose noted additionally:
"The play that he wrote (a dramatization of
his novel, "Der Idisher porets"), was a
lebnsbild in
four (?) acts, with strong, dramatic content, built on
the theme "poimeinikes," the young Jewish
youths who they used to catch and make soldiers. He
really portrayed the community deputies, the provincial
rabbis, the moldy matchmakers and other scumbags of that
wild-fanatic time in a comical light. He gave the name
of this play as "Der Idisher porets (The Jewish
Nobleman?)."
Before the play returned
censored from St. Petersburg, Homer, who bought the
play for one hundred rubles and fifteen rubles for
each performance, quarreled with the troupe and left
the theatre. Yosef Lerner, an advocate and former
director of a French theatre in Bucharest, took over
the troupe and engaged Shomer as a playwright for
one hundred and fifty rubles per month. He transferred the
troupe to a small handicrafts (handverker) club and
attracted the players Moshe and Ester Zilberman, Sonia
Goldstein (the future Sophia Karp), Abraham Boym, and a
large, mixed choir.
Lerner began his theatre
with Ettinger's "Serkele" and "Der oytser (The
Treasure)" (?), by Axenfeld, and only after the plays
failed did he started rehearsing Shomer's play.
For two months the troupe studied the play. They
made two rehearsals twice a week, and everyone knew
their roles well. In the play several music numbers
had been included, for which Shomer wrote the text himself.
According to M. Osherovitch, Israel Gradner should
play the role of "the Jewish nobleman," and
Heine-Chaimowitz -- "Shepsl the Matchmaker." But due to
a conflict, Gradner played both roles.
Mogulesko
tells in his memoirs that he played the role of
"Leyzerke der krumer."
The play (1881?) was so
successful that it was transferred to the Mariinsky
Theatre, where it stayed for two months of packed
houses.
About the success of the production,
Shomer tells:
"I myself, the composer of
"Der Idisher porets," was unfit to be a witness.
People will certainly not believe me. Only the actors,
who then acted in the play, such as Mister Mogulesko,
Shoengold and Madame Goldstein, can testify that
the success of the play was a huge hit. Until that
evening, the audience had not been heard to applaud like
that. One never saw the audience so touched as they
were then. No eye was left dry, and everyone, without
exception, was so happy that every actor and every
actress was challenged countless times. Also, Mr. Lerner was publicly thanked for this, that they had such
such staged such a play."
Shomer's daughter,
Rose, tells (in her book, "Undzer foter Shm"r (Our
Father Shomer)":
"Shomer's popularity grew
significantly. The entirety of Odessa spoke about him
and his theatre play. He was happy that his play had
such a great financial success, as well as having
such an artistic success. One must not forget
that "Der Idisher porets" was one of the first plays of Yiddish
theatre that had a serious content, and in which there
was portrayed certain defects, negative traits of Jewish
life at that time. Also for the first time in the play
there was an attempt to portray correct, real images of
people."
The play, "Der Idisher porets," was
published in 1888, a second edition in 1897, both in
Vilna.
A manuscript of "Der Idisher porets," a
tragi-comedy in five acts and ten scenes, 1876, can be
found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
How did
the urge to Yiddish theatre look then? Shomer depicts
this in a chapter of his novel, "Di raykhe yerushe,
oder, a mesh on a suf (The Rich Inheritance, or, A Story
Without an End), Vilna, 1886. This chapter was
republished in the "Archive of Yiddish Theatre," with an
introduction by Z. R. (Zalman Reisen), who remarks:
"This chapter comes completely unexpectedly, [and
is] unrelated to the actual story of "Di raykhe
yerushe"; The author introduces only the heroes of the
novel into the Yiddish theatre and uses the opportunity
to share with the reader what he knows about the Yiddish
theatre."
After that, as Shomer tells
there how Goldfaden founded the Yiddish theatre, and he
continues to write:
"It was already seen how the
theatre awakened a desire in hundreds of people to write
theatre pieces, or to become actors. People could not
help but laugh at the scene, as from all sides all day
the authors of theatre plays were watching Mr. Lerner.
He brought a comedy in six acts, and each act had in it
six scenes. A second brought a tragi-drama in five acts
and each act took up a page of paper. In one word,
authors and theatre pieces have been flying from all
sides. And who do you think they were, all the authors?
Tailors, shoemakers, cutters, bakers,
teytun-shnayder, keysh-treger.
Whoever could write, my beloved father, began to write
plays ... even many ladies threw away their economy and
their small children and began to write plays for the
Yiddish theatre."
Jacob P. Adler tells in his
memoirs that when Lerner had taken over the Mariinsky
Theatre in Odessa, earlier by
himself an then together with Shomer-Shaykevitsh, he allowed him to perform
Shomer's "Idishe porets," "Der katorzhnik," "Der bal
teshuva (The Convert)," and "Der blutiker adye."
B. Gorin writes:
"He (Shomer) dramatized,
"Dem Idishn porets," "Der katorzhnik," "Der
protsentnik," and they all were well accepted by
the audience. This gave Shaykevitsh the idea that he
should become an entrepreneur himself. At that time
there was no obstacle for any actor, and a place to
play could be found in every city. The main thing
was -- plays, and a composer who knew how to
assemble a small
repertoire, who could have easily become a director.
Shomer assembled a company that consisted of (Israel)
Gradner and his wife (Aneta) Gradner, (M.L.) Meyerson,
Heine (Chaimowitz), Klener, Kaufman, Miss Zaks, Gelis
and his wife, (Jacob) Katzman, (Joseph) Wachtel, (Louis)
Friedsell, who was a choir director and actor, and still
others."
Rose Shomer-Bachelis
recalls it differently:
"By the great enthusiasm
with which the play ("Der Idisher porets") was
received by the thousands of Jews in Odessa, Shomer
made clear the love the Jewish public had for
Yiddish theatre, when, naturally, they had not been given good plays
[before]. ... He
therefore decided to organize a troupe of actors who
would travel around , "guest-starring," in various
cities. Shomer advertised in the newspapers for talent,
and after several weeks Shomer's house was overflowing
with candidates for the Yiddish stage. ... Among those
who he then had chosen and later stood out and
made a name for themselves on the Yiddish stage were the men:
Gelis, Halanyu, Klener, Golubok, Kaufman and Ostrowski;
and the women: Gelis, Miss Zaks and Miss Levitska,and the last
-- later the famous Sarah Adler.
Shomer taught
together with the new troupe his play, "Der bal teshuva"
(Shomer gave "Der yesoymim" as the name of the play), a
dramatization of his novel with the same name, and left
in the Spring of 1881 for Nikolayev, where he rented a
theatre, and under the name, "Deytsh Theatre," he
directed the play that took place very well. But due to
the fear of a pogrom (after the assassination of Czar
Alexander II), it was impossible to attract [people to] the
productions. The theatre was closed, and the play, as
an honorarium, was later performed by actors in Kherson,
Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov and Kiev.
According to
Rose Shomer-Bachelis, the play, "Der bal teshuva," was
also staged under the name, "Di tsvay yesoymim" (in the
novel, "Di khalitse," Shomer brought a song from the
play.)
In May 1884 Sarah Adler debuted in the play
in New York's Turn Hall.
"Der bal teshuva"
was,
like the novel, published in 1880 in Vilna.
The
play was not published. A manuscript can be found in
Lipovski's archive in Vilna's YIVO.
A censored
copy from 1881 -- "Di yesoymim, a tragi-comedy in
five acts and seven scenes," can be found in Shomer's
Archive in
YIVO.
"As to the winter season" -- recalls Shomer
-- they performed for the first time in Odessa, "Der bal
teshuva," "Der shkontist," "Der katorzhnik," and "Der
nayder."
According to Rose Shomer-Bachelis,
Mogulesko played the role of "Dovidl" in "Katorzhnik."
According to Pinchus Tanzman, his brother,
Avraham-Yitzhak Tanzman staged in Warsaw (in the
beginning of the eighties), Shomer's plays, "Der
trayfniak" and "Der katorzhnik, oder, Der
yeshiva-bokhur."
"Der katorzhnik" was never
published, and also no manuscript of it can be found. As
a novel, "Der katorzhnik" was published in 1878.
The play, "Di getraye vayb, oder, Der blutiker adye," a
melodrama in five acts, is a dramatization of Shomer's
novel, "Der blutiker adye, oder, Gift in gliksbekher"
(published as a novel in 1879, 88 pages). A manuscript
of a censored copy (1880), "Dos getraye vayb, a drama in
five acts and nine scenes," can be found in Shomer's
archive in YIVO.
Shomer tells that in Odessa he
gave Goldfaden his play, "Der lebediker
toyter," to perform. But when he saw how badly Goldfaden had
staged his play, he sent his new plays to
his own troupe -- "Der shkantist," "Di shpanishe
inkvizitsye," "Dos getraye vayb," Der teus," and "Der
mames zindl, oder, Der kartshpiler," which "traveled
around the cities at that time."
The play, "A
patsh far a patsh, oder, Der lebediker toyter," was
published in Odessa in 1883, under the name, "Der
lebediker toyter."
A published play, without a
title page and in a defective form, lacking, with
inscriptions by the performer, can be found in Zalmen
Zylbercweig's Theatre Archive.
The playwright
Jacob Waxman tells:
" In July 1881 there appeared
for the first time in Kharkov, Shaykevitsh with his
troupe that began to play in the "Bavara" Garden
Theatre."
The repertoire consisted of his own plays, such as: "Di
yesoyme," "Der Idisher porets," et al. However, the
plays were performed so many times that the audience,
who used to attend these productions so willingly,
finally stopped coming to the theatre. Wanting better
material conditions for the troupe, for the first time Shaykevitsh staged the famous Russian comedy by Gogol,
"Revizor (The Inspector General)," which was translated and
adapted by Shaykevitsh."
Further, Waxman
tells that the greater portion of attendees of the
production of "Revizor" were Russian civil-exchange and
military officials who, however, were hugely different
than the original Russian types, and they started
protesting with anti-Jewish slogans. The anti-Semitic
newspaper, "Kharkovski listok," used the incident for an
offensive article, that Jews allowed themselves to be
separated from the great Russian humorist Gogol, and the
Kharkov governor forbade further performances.
Waxman maintained that this was the first ban in
Russia of Yiddish theatre. However, actually it was only
a local ban.
If Shomer's giving a Jewish version
of
Gogol's "Revizor" did not go down well with the
non-Jewish audience, the comedy was very popular with
the Jewish audience and was constantly and is played with
great success.
Zalman Reisen writes:
"Shomer's proximity to the psychology of the masses
and his
excellent dialogue was shown in the best way in his work
on Yiddish Gogol's "Revizor"; here he not only
translated the language, but also the characters and the
whole milieu, adapting It to Jewish life and to the
Jewish achievements and introduction of certain social
tendencies."
The giving of a Jewish
form to "Der revizor," a comedy in four acts, freely
adapted, was published in 1883 in Odessa.
A
censored copy from 1880 under the name, "Zikh aleyn
ongefayft," a comedy in four acts, adapted from the
Russian of the famous play, "Revizor," can be found in
the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
In 1881 Shomer
personally made a complaint to the Odessa
Governor-General, that a certain Yiddish troupe
encountered obstacles to stage censored plays in Bessarabia Gubernia, especially on the Sabbath, and
therefore he pleaded that his troupe, which had gone out there, should
not suffer from these obstacles. (in Kiev's Theatre
Book, 1927, Y. Riminik shows the exact texts of the address
and the answer, which was a positive situation.)
In the summer of 1881 Shomer received a license from the
Governor-General in Kishinev to play Yiddish theatre
there, and with a troupe that consisted of Chaimowitz,
Karp, Zuckerman, Boike, Nachamkus, Kaufman, Miss Zaks,
Miss Levitska (the future Sarah Adler), and Jennie
Goldfaden (a sister of Abraham Goldfaden) (?). There
(regardless, as he tells it, of the intrigues and
dedications on the part of teachers and A. Goldfaden), he
performed with great success his plays, "Der bal
teshuva" and "Der Idisher porets." Here, for the first
time, he also performed his operetta, "Der nayder, oder,
Akiva mit di 24 toysent talmidim."
The play, "Der nayder,"
was never published. A manuscript, a censored copy from
1880: "Der nayder, a historical drama in five acts and
nine scenes, with singing and dancing," and a censored
copy from 1882, "Bat-Zion, oder, Der nayder," a
historical saga, composed in five acts and nine scenes,"
can be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
In
the winter of 1882 Shomer returned with his troupe to
Odessa, and together with Abraham Goldfaden and Yosef
Lerner as his partners, opened the large Mariinsky Theatre,
as a "German theatre." Included in the troupe were the
actors Mogulesko, Spivakowski, Israel and Aneta Gradner,
and Madame Edelstein, with a large choir and orchestra,
and there Goldfaden staged his "Shulamis" and "Bar
Kokhba," and Shomer his successful plays, "Ayzerne
froy," and "Der protsentnik."
"Di
Ayzerne froy" (Shomer himself admits that he borrowed the
subject) is like the novel, "Di Ayzerne froy, oder, Dos
ferkoyfte kind," published in 1882 (156 pages). The play
was not published, and there is no manuscript of it.
In the play, "Der protsentnik," Mogulesko -- according
to Rose Shomer-Bachelis -- played the role of "Pessie di
kekhnye." But Mogulesko tells in his memoirs that he
played a role (visibly the protsentnik), where he copied
a local userer, "Kafke," which was received with great
enthusiasm by the theatre audience.
According to B. Gorin,
Heine-Chaimowitz staged the play in Kherson with the
participation of his wife Sonya (the future Sarah
Adler).
The play, "Der protsentnik" was never
published. In the Shomer Archive in YIVO, one can find
two manuscripts -- "Protsentik" and "Der shkantist," a
comedy in five acts and ten scenes, censored copy from
1880.
In the Shomer Archive at YIVO one also
finds censored copies of the following Shomer plays:
"Der khoylem," a comedy in four acts and eight scenes,
censored copy, 1880," "Der teus," a comedy in four acts,
censored copy, 1880," "Der volf in shofn-fel," a drama
in five acts and ten scenes, censored copy from 1882,"
also "Di nekome, oder, Yehudis," a historical drama in
five acts and nine scenes, censored copy, 1882."
Taking into account the lack of repertoire
[available] at the time,
it is assumed that all the plays were performed at that
time. But in his history of the first years of Yiddish
theatre, Shomer does not mention the performances or the
plays. Also it is probable that these plays were later
staged under other names.
On 16 August 1884 in the Dramatic
Club in London, England, there was staged Shomer's "Der
mames zundl, oder, Ales a khoylem, a tragi-comedy in
four acts" -- probably the former play, "Der khoylem."
In Odessa Shomer again began to write novels and
stories in Hebrew and Yiddish, and he also went over to a
monthly journal, "Bilder fun lebn."
In
1884 there was published in Odessa, as a translation,
Shomer's "Der shreḳlikher blut bilbl fon
Tisa-Eslar, oder, di naye megilets Ester (Salimosi)." The
play has a speech by Shomer, then ... follows the story
of a libel in a fictional form, and only then in a
dramatic form the course of the trial.
A
published copy can be found in Zalmen Zylbercweig's
Theatre Archive.
Shomer does not mention the play
anywhere (a play with this theme, composed by Professor
Hurwitz, was performed in 1887 with a huge success in
New York. The two parts of the play were performed with
a continuation on two special theatre evenings.)
In 1885, a troupe under the direction fo Mogulesko and
Finkel, performed in Bucharest Shomer's comedy, "Di
kokete damen (The Coquettish Ladies)." (Sholem
Perlmutter's remarks are false, that the comedy was
played for the first time in New York.)
In the
foreword to the published play, the author tells that he
had written the comedy in 1883 in Odessa (as well as
other plays),and it was not performed because it
then was forbidden to play Yiddish theatre. The Yiddish
actors then wandered off to Romania, and there the
comedy was played for the first time.
In a
review from the newspaper, "Fraternitate (Fraternity)"
(Bucharest, 7 June 1885), it was said:
"Among the
new plays that were performed in the "Zhignitsa Theatre,"
was "Di kokete damen," one of the best written,
although the title is, it seems, inappropriate;
everything is copied from nature. The satire is fine
and in its place. Some of the characters are well
portrayed, in such a way that the
actors could show their talents in full measure. The
goal of the play is to show the difference between a
serious upbringing and true culture, and an easy
upbringing."
When Mogulesko in 1886 arrived with
his troupe to America, he gave in the "Terrace Garden,"
nine productions of Offenbach's operetta, "Bluebeard"
and "Pericola," and Shomer's "Di kokete damen." B. Gorin
writes about this:
"Regardless of the fact that
the company upset the (Yiddish) theatre-goers of New
York, and the audience with great impatience came to see
new actors on the stage, a cold [wind] blew into the
theatre, when we staged the aforementioned two operettas (Offenbach), and
the audience left the theatre unsatisfied. The audience
did not like the foreign operettas, and the theatre-goer
felt as if they had fallen into a foreign wedding. Thus,
when they played the "Kokete damen," the mood became
high, [as if there was] a holiday in the theatre. The theatre-goer
felt like they were in their home, and the happiness
from the public grew with each performance. The actors
immediately rose in the eyes of the public, and the more
the play was a hit, the more people licked the fingers
of the actors."
According to Leon Blank, at
first they played only "Bluebeard," and after the
failure of the play, the public was so exasperated
that Mogulesko, whose name previously was so
strongly advertised and for whom we had so many
expectations, we had to close
the curtain after the second act and quiet the crowd. The theatre's
competitors failed and "it got so bad that when
Mogulesko staged "Di kokete damen," the theatre was
almost empty, and those who came to the performance
were also left cold because the play had no choir,
and they simply spoke "Yiddish" and not "German."
This new failure so strongly affected Mogulesko
that he refused to participate in the third play,
"Pericola."
But when the "Kokete
damen" was played in 1887 in Philadelphia, the play,
Mogulesko (who in the play performed in two
roles), especially received a completely different reception.
Bessie Thomashefsky tells about this:
"The
first play they staged was "Kokete damen." The
impression that we left with was not for the entire
company, but for one artist, one genius -- one Sigmund
Mogulesko. ... Mogulesko had not played "Kallman," he
lived "Kallman." In the scene that killed a
young man, an Odessa lebe-yung, a fire burned in his every
movement. Every little look of his, interpreted a soul.
Then came the second act, and there appeared "Shprintze
di meklerke." In no way was it possible to recognize
that "Shprintze", who is being played here, that this
was
not a living thing, "Shprintze" was brought
here from home. With his superior grace, with his
genius educational power, Mogulesko played
"Shprintze," the old yente, who brokers services,
with such persuasive power that it was impossible to
recognize him not only as the one who first played
the young flame-throwing lebe-yung, but it was difficult to
recognize that "Shprintze" is not "Shprintze", only
Mogulesko, not a she, but not a he."
Leon Blank
mentions that actually Mogulesko played three roles: the
young man "Kallman," "Shprintze," and then "Kalman" as
the elder.
When Mogulesko later performed in the play
in New York, he made the same, strong impression on the
public, the theatre profession, and with the critics (to
elaborate on this, see Mogulesko's biography, volume 2
of the "Lexicon," page 1190).
Shomer tells that
Mogulesko's success in the comedy was so great, that
they used to express : "We play togday Mogulesko's
Kokete dame"; that the comedy in New York itself has
played eight hundred times, and "the actors used to drag
the actors out of all the blates.
When such a successful play was performed on a European
stage, in a living language, the composer would become
rich. However, I did not receive a reward for it,
because it was in the hands of Yiddish artists. There
are many people who don't even know that this comedy is
mine. Now they will know, and this will be my immediate
reward (ah, yes, a rich reward?")
"Di
kokete damen" later, under the name, "Shprintze di
meklerin," was played frequently by various Yiddish troupes.
In 1915, when due to the war with Germany, one was
not allowed to play in Yiddish, or Yiddish-German
theatre, "Di kokete damen" was staged in Romni
[sp] under the
name, "Odeskaya Faktorka," in the Russian translation of
Y. Yulin, played by Yiddish actors, with Sam Adler at
its head.
The play in 1910 was published in New
York, according to Zalman Reisen, it was also published
in Odessa in 1882, but it isn't clear if it was the
comedy, or a novel. (Shomer himself says that he had
written the play initially in 1883).
In 1885
Shomer staged in Nikolayev his play, "Di shpanishe
inkvizitsye (The Spanish Inquisition)," which years
later was played on the Yiddish stage in America.
In the foreword to the published play, he gives
interesting details:
"This tragedy that I have
composed was in the year 1884. I took it from my own
novel, "Khosn dmim." It was first performed in Nikolayev
in the year 1885. Only one tragedy out of a thousand can
have such a huge success as this tragedy had. It
touched the heartstrings of the Jews, which was burned
in the exiled (cursed) Spain hundreds of years ago,
seeing the scenes of this tragedy resonated in all
Jewish hearts. After that, it was celebrated all
over the world where Yiddish theatre was performed, and everywhere it
brought tears to the Jewish audience. In New York it was
played countless times and brought an indescribable
applause. I believe that by reading this tragedy, the
reader will have the greatest pleasure. This tragedy is
called, "Kean, oder, Der bruder merder," but the actors
have given it the name, "Spanish Inquisition." I am
forced to stay with the name."
In the beginning
of 1887(?), Shomer went to Warsaw, where he met with
Abraham Goldfaden who was playing iwth an operetta
troupe. There Shomer began to stage with a troupe his
dramas and lebnsbilds. Although there was a competition
between them, the friendly relations between
them after all, continued to be maintained. In a letter that
Goldfaden sent to Shomer (republished) in "The Nation,"
1902), Goldfaden wrote:
"When I arrived with my
play in Russia the first time in our civilized
Odesa, the criticism fell on me, that I am fooling
the audience with "Balagon China", and don't give
them any "life dramas." Only before I "passed [pospeyet["
to look around and write new plays for the new
audience. Be you, Herr Shakevitsh, like an angel who
came to me and helped me, until I will rest, with
your "life dramas." How I thanked you from the
bottom of my heart, and how excited I was when I saw
your plays on the stage, "Yidisher porets," "Bel
teshuva," "Shkontist," and "Katorzhnik" -- how did
the Jewish people live, that he saw his Jewish
types, his language, his life and himself."
"The true struggle
between Goldfaden's and Shomer's repertoire -- Dr. Jacob Shatzky
writes in his book, "A Hundred Years of Goldfaden" --
Dr. Shatzky wrote in the reviews of that time about the
repertoire of both playwrights, and mentioned
additionally as words of praise for Jacob P. Adler as
an actor in the Yiddish-Polish assimilation newspaper,
"Izraelita," that Adler should begin to perform Shomer's
plays. According to Dr. Shazky, in the "Folksblat" (Num.
31, 1888), Joshua Mezakh, the author of the first Hebrew
book about Yiddish theatre, "Bmt Yitzkhok (The Death of
Isaac)," (Warsaw, 1890), written under the pseudonym of
A. Litwak, that in Shomer's "Katorzhnik," the characters
are invented. And in his book, "The Death of Isaac,"
Mezakh criticizd Shomer's play, "Der trayfniak" and
"Der protsentnik," that they contain in themselves
dangerous material for the anti-Semitic press.
In 1887 Shomer settled in Vilna, where he wrote
novels exclusively for the Rohm Publishing House,
then in 1888 he traveled to his family in Pinsk,
where he soon
organized a Yiddish theatre in a garden. The troupe was
large. Among others there there were: Elias Rothstein,
A. Shliferstein, Feinstein, Antisipovitsh, Fiszon,
Berman, Adela Zinger (later Prond), and a chorus of
young men and women, among them the choristers of the
Pinsk shul. The repertoire consisted of Shomer's and
several of Goldfaden's plays, which they staged."
"The Yiddish theatre had made a great impression
in Pinsk, -- recalls Rose Shomer-Bachelis -- young
and old ran to see the performances. It was the
first time that the residents of Pinsk had seen
Yiddish theatre. Even the Russian police chief often
used to come to the theatre, to the performanes,
with his relatives. Wherever people walked and
stood, they were heard singing of theatre songs and
heard about the plays that were performed."
But the Yiddish
theatre did not exist for long. After the summer it was
closed.
According to B. Roin, in 1887 there was
staged Shomer's play, "Tsilye, oder, Geretet durkh a
kind." The play was never published and is not found in
any manuscript.
On the invitation of Yiddish
actors in New York, Shomer traveled to America in 1889.
As he later told, he was given a large
parade in New York, not only by the actors, but also by the then
periodicals, and in general by the Jewish public. For
his reception, they performed "Di kotkete damen," and he
was greeted with a thundering ovation. Soon thereafter
he became a partner with the actors Mogulesko and
Heine-Chaimowitz, and they staged with great success his new
theatre piece, "Rebecca."
B. Gorin says
that at that time there was an ongoing lease of
theatres in New York, and when Shomer arrived in New
York, his name was very well known in the Yiddish
theatre world, because many troupes used to perform
in his plays, and Heine-Chaimowitz soon took him in
as an author into his Pooling's Theatre, where they
staged his new
play "Rebecca," which was strongly received.
M. Zeifert writes:
"The company of the
"Roumanian Opera House" grabbed him with both hands,
because they knew he was very productive. In the course
of a year's time, he had four historical and three
lebnsbilds ... written down, all the plays were
performed. Of all of the plays ... "Rebecca" had the
greatest box-office success, although the other plays
were better and more logical."
"Rebecca, or, A
funk fun yidishkayt," music by Mogulesko and Abramowitz,
portrays the Polish-Jewish relationship in the time of
Prince Radziwill. The play was staged on 28 October 1889
in Pooling's Theatre (formerly the Roumanian Opera
House), and was played continuously for several months.
The play was never published. A manuscript of the
play, "Rebecca," and a manuscript of "Rebecca, oder, Eyn
funk yidishkayt" (Latayner-written), an operetta in five
acts and seven scenes, can be found in the Shomer
Archive in YIVO.
According to B. Gorin, in 1889
there was staged Shomer's tragi-comedy, "Di leykhtzinik,
oder, Froyn-Farfirer." The play was not published, and
there is also no manuscript.
Shomer's daughter,
Rose, tells:
"Once at a production of "Rebecca,"
my father was strongly conflicted with an
actor-manager from the theatre, who allowed himself
to tell a nasty joke on the stage. It annoyed my father so much that he
withdrew from the theatre."
Shomer then put out a
weekly page, "Der menshn-fraynd" (first volume
published on 6 December 1889), where he published in
fractions ( isssues 5-32), "The Yiddish Theatre in
America."
At the same time he continued to write
novels for publishing houses in Russia, as well as
for printers in various areas of the New York East Side
and Brooklyn. Later he issued "Der veg-vayter," but he
had to stop it and finally also sell the printing house
and live only by writing."
According to his
daughter Rose, Shomer then wrote and staged in New York
the play, "Der letster yidisher kenig (The Last Jewish
King)," "Tvishn tsvay flamen (Between Two Flames),"
dramatizations of his novels with the same names, the
comedy, "Tsvey mtim gayen tantsn (Two Dead People are
Dancing?)," and the operetta "Esteke."
All of the plays -- acccording to Zalman Reisen --
had great
success and brought in to the author the sum of $1,500
-- a very significant sum in those days.
"The Last
Jewish King" dealt with the Bar-Kokhba epoch, and
was --
like a novel, published in 1911 (122 pages +100). The
play was not published, and is not found in any
manuscript.
"Tsvey mtim gayen tantsn," a comical
opera with music by Mogulesko, was staged on 27 December
1889 in Pooling's Theatre.
The play was not
published and is not found in any manuscript.
On
5 April 1890 in Pooling's Theatre, there was staged
Shomer's "Esterke, oder, Di yidishe polnishe kenign
(Estherke, or, The Jewish-Polish Queen)." The play was
not published and is not found in any manuscript.
In 1890, according to B. Gorin, there was also
staged Shomer's "Der gelt-kenig (The Money King?), oder,
Baron Rothshild," a historical operetta in five acts,
eight scenes, music by Max Abramowitz.
The play
was gone in several weeks and was not published.
A manuscript (1890) "Rothschild," an operetta in
four acts with a prologue, can be found in the Shomer
Archive in YIVO.
In the time there was also
staged Shomer's play, "Himl, erd un shvindl (Heaven,
Earth and Fraud?)," a comedy in five acts, which was not
published. Per a story, it was published in Vilna in
1912. (It may be there are earilier editions.) A
manuscript can be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
According to B. Gorin, in 1891 there was staged
Shomer's play, "Titus Hrshe, oder, Di printsesin
Birigika." The play was not published. A manuscript,
"Operetta in five acts and six scenes," can be found in
the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
In 1892 Shomer read
for Jacob P. Adler and Mogulesko a play "Yehuda
HaLevi," which they liked very much, and they
announced it for their theatre on Eighth Street. But
after several weeks, the announcement was changed to M. Zeifert's play,
"Shomer Yisroel," which is actually Shomer's play with
small changes.
Shomer's daughter, Rose, later
writes about this:
"His heart had bleeded for his
family in need, when his new play, as well as his old
plays, made the managers and actors rich. ... He was
appalled by the treachery of the people who publicly
defrauded him. ... It was so bad for him to insult a
colleague ... and he decided not to have anything more
to do with the Yiddish actors."
The play, which
is a dramatization of Shomer's novel, "Der gebildeter
es-harts" (published in 1884), was never published. A
manuscript "Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, oder, Abn Ezra," a
historical operetta in five acts and twenty scenes, can
be found in Shomer's archive in YIVO.
In 1894
there began to be published in New York under Shomer's
editing, "Der yudisher pok, a weekly page of jokes,
humor, satire, critiques and fiction," where Shomer also
published his one-act comical vaudevilles.
In
1896 Shomer took over the Liberty Theatre, where he was
the author and director, and a certain Shefsky became
the "business manager." [The troupe included:] Morris
Meyerson, Karl Shramek, Israel Weinblatt, Mr. and Mrs.
Shefsky, Madame Dubinsky, Bina Abramowitz, Bela
Gudinsky, Sabina Weinblatt, Fannie Reinhardt et al, and
a large chorus under the leaderhsip of Henry Russotto.
The play, which was called by Gorin, "Shoshanah,
oder, der rikhter fun Jeriku (Shoshanah, or, The Judge
of Jericho)," was not published and is not found in any
manuscript.
The first play that was staged (1896)
in the renovated "Roumanian Opera House" was Shomer's
comedy, "Homen der tsvayter (Haman the Second)," built
on the legend about Saul Wahl, who one day could have
been King of Poland. The comedy was written with an eye
on Mogulesko in the role of "Saulik ben Todrus Khzk."
Rose later writes about this:
"My father
maintained that Mogulesko was the greatrest artist on
the Yiddish stage. More than once was he taken to create
special roles for him. ... In "Haman the Second,"
my father had created for him the role of a foolish,
unlucky servant who becomes the King of Poland. The role
gave Mogulesko the opportunity to show himself in all
his greatness. "Haman the Second" disturbed the entire
New York Jewish population with its interesting content,
mainly with its folksy humor. They spoke everywhere
about the play, and about the great actor Mogulesko. ...
The play was performed for packed houses. But suddenly
the performances stopped."
According to one
version, the reason for this was that the new
manager, Gutman, had disappeared with all the money
from the box office, and the theatre closed. Then
Joseph Edelstein, the manager of the "Thalia
Theatre," bought up the rights to put on the play
with Mogulesko, and the play continued to be given
there weeklong for a packed house.
But according to Gorin, the play was called, "Homen
der tsvayter, oder, Der komisher hersher," a historical
play in five acts," and he gave other reasons:
"The entire time Shaykevitsh (Shomer) had
been estranged from the stage, but when he saw that the small theatre,
formerly the "Roumanian Opera House," remained
empty, he spoke with Mogulesko, who had a reason to be
dissatisfied with the new tactic that had
pushed comedy to the background, and they both went
there as directors. (Shomer's daughter, Rose, denies
this categorically.) Shaykevitch wrote a piece where the
main role was for a comic, and this had evoked in
Mogulesko the hope to win back the uppermost
(oybn-on) on the stage, and to show the
tragic (dramatic action), that they do not yet have the
primogeniture in the theatre. This play is called
"Haman the Second," and it greatly affected the
audience. Only the direction of Shaykevitsh and
Mogulesko didn't last long. The wheel of the theatre did
not allow it to be pushed back. The time of the comic,
even of such a brilliant comic as Mogulesko, was already
over, and the direction of the stage had not lead to
that sort of plays that Shaykevitsh had created."
The
play, with an unheard of success, was put on by various
well-known comics in Europe, such as Sam Adler, A.G.
Kompaneyets, Sam Schilling, Abraham Axelrad, Isidore
Ashkenazi, Max Streng, et al.
In the 1924-5
season, Jacob Kalich staged the play
"Der ershter un tsvayer Homen (The First and Second
Haman)" with Molly Picon, -- per Goldfaden and Shomer.
"Haman the Second" was, without the knowledge of the
author, published in 1908 in Warsaw with scenes on the
title page, with Kompaneyets in the main role.
A
manuscript of the play can be found in the Shomer
Archive in YIVO.
According to B. Gorin, in 1897
(according to Rose Shomer -- in the Roumanian Opera
House), there was staged Shomer's "Di getoyfte malka,
oder, Di yidnfreser." The play was not published and
cannot be found in manuscript.
In 1897 Morris
Rosenfeld published Shomer's "Homen Tash," a humorous
page in honor of the eternal Purim" a satirical song
under the title, "Kune Lemel un der Idisher Kenig Lier
(Kuni Lemel and the Jewish King Lear)."
In an introduction to
this song, reprinted in "Archive of Yiddish Theatre,"
Y.Sh. (Dr. Jacob Shatzky) remarks: "This song bears all
the signs of a commitment on the part of the editor,
N.M. Shaykevitsh (Shomer). The dialogue between
Goldfaden and Gordin ends with a song of praise for
Shomer's dramas."
This is what we see at the end
of the poem [loose translation]:
"Shut up, give
up like a virgin,
'Kuni Lemel,' 'King Lear' --
Both of you are right next to me,
Both of you are
descended from Gentiles,
Show you a Jew with bones
Shaykevitsh can, no longer one.
A 'protsentnik'
-- yes, a dryer,
And a 'katorzhnik' to the end,
A
'bal teshuva' -- God's punishment!!
Bravo, bravo,
Nahum-Meir!
What a kiss! What a pinch!
Good, it
goes through all the cracks!"
In the same year Shomer
published an article and a song about Yiddish theatre in
the book, "The Yiddish Stage," under the direction of Y.
Minikes.
Shomer again opened a printing shop and
published a weekly, humoristic journal, "Der
land-khokhem," and for the entirety of several years --
holiday pages under various names. He also published
novels in notebooks, earlier through publisher M.
Saperstein, later by himself, and he wrote novels for
publishing houses in Vilna. In order to answer the sharp
criticisms about him, he put out a special brochure,
"Ihi ur," (28 pages). But the critics did not hear
[what he had to say], and
Shomer was forced to write for the newspapers novels
under the imagined names of "Chaim Kritishov" and "Dr.
Pinski.
In 1898 -- according to B. Gorin --
Shomer's "Kapitan dreyfus (Captain Dryefus)," was
staged. As the author's daughter Rose tells it, her
father in that time himself put together a troupe, and
with it staged the play in Newark.
The play is no
longer performed (on the Yiddish stage in America, as
well as in Europe, where there was staged many
dramatizations of the Dreyfus Affair, captured by various
playwrights).
The play was not published. One
manuscript, "Captain Dreyfus," a drama in four acts, can
be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO, and a second
with the author's daughter, Rose.
In the same
year -- according to B. Gorin -- there was also staged
Shhomer's "Devorah hnviah, oder, Yel un Sisro."
The play was not published. A manuscript, "Yel un Sisro,
oder, Devorah hnviah," a blblical operetta in five acts,
can be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
According to B. Gorin, in 1899 there was staged Shomer's
historical operetta in five acts, "Der yidisher graf,
oder, Dos farbitene kind."
In 1909, through
Shpachner, there was staged (with Berta Kalich) Shomer's
drama in four acts, "A Yidish kind," furnished and
scened by B. Wilensky, music by Rumshinsky,cited by
Gorin as "a lebensbild with singing, subject
..." On 28 April 1922 in the
Second Avenue Theatre, there was staged by Samuel
Rosenstein Shomer's "Der rebitsins dokhter," music by
Joseph Rumshinsky. In the "Rumshinsky Book," it is
worth mentioning that the play once was played in
the Windsor Theatre with Berta Kalich, under the
name, "Der (Yidisher) graf," and later Rumshinsky transformed
the play into an operetta under the name, "A Yidish
kind." Probably, here it was treated as
one-and-the-same play, for which there is even no manuscript remaining.
In the Spring of 1899 Shomer sold the printing shop
and moved over to Bayonne, New Jersey, where he composed
his play, "Di Yidishe imigrantn (The Jewish
Immigrants)," and again he soon brought his family over
from New York.
The play was mentioned by Gorin:
"The Jewish Emigrants, or, The Bigamist," was staged in 1900
in the People's Theatre with the participation fo Boris
Thomashefsky, Sigmund Mogulesko, Max Rosenthal, Sophia
Karp, Bina Abramowitz, Boaz Young, et al.
 
Photo, above: Sigmund Mogulesko, as "Feitel
Pavolye"
Rose Shomer tells about the
production:
"The success of the play was so great
that rarely had the Yiddish theatre seen such [a thing] ... In the
first few productions In the first few performances,
people called out my father onto the stage dozens of times. And the cry of the public, Bravo, Shomer!,
was ,shouted into the air. Also every actor and actress
received an ovation for their acting. Mainly Mogulesko's
success was great in his role as "Feitel Pavolye" -- the
green, young man who was a peddler in America. The
entirety of Jewish New York spoke about him., and wherever
they stood, and wherever they walked, the words were
repeated: "Pavoye, uncle," which was heard in the play.
Also they resung everywhere his comical couplet, "How do
you like such boarder?"
B. Gorin writes:
"It was rather an exception, when (at the time
when they kept to pattern plays) such a play was very
strongly selected. That exception was in the "People's
Theatre," when there they staged Shaykevitsh's
"Immigrants," but as a rule, the pieces then fell one
after another."
After that, as the play had
been performed for about fifteen weeks, Mogulesko
became ill in the throat, and Thomashefsky gave the role of
"Feitel Pavolye" to his wife Bessie.
Bessie
Thomashefsky says:
" "The Immigrants" with
Mogulesko as "Feitel Pavolye" was a treasure for us at
the "People's Theatre." We made a fortune from
the play.
The Jews came to see "Feitel" with his "Pa-vo-lye." In
every Jewish house, in the streets, in the shops,
everywhere they imitated Mogulesko. But -- Pavolye!
Mogulesko! ... To us in the People's Theatre, the
tickets were snapped up in advance. ... The play ran
for several months. ... Suddenly Mogulesko became
ill and could no longer play. For us this was a
blow, as if from a thunderbolt. Without Mogulesko we
could no longer play, "The Immigrants" ... It was
decided that I must spring into Mogulesko's role.
... The news darkened my eyes. ... Mogulesko had
given me his word that he would protect me, and when
I came on to play [the role], Mogulesko was seen in
a box (loge). So that there would not be any dissatisfaction among
the audience, he himself should appear on the stage soon,
so that they can see him in his terribly sick
condition, and I will not suffer any insults. ... After
each act, Mogulesko came up to me behind the curtain and
comforted me, that the performance is going well, and
that's how I pretended to be "Pavolye" in the role of
"Feitel," and the play was still running for six weeks
in front of packed houses with me as "Feitel Pavolye."
As Rose Shomer tells it, Bessie Thomashefsky,
"No other interpretation could be given like
Mogulesko's, but she had, in contrast, imitated him,
as they say, with
every pichevkes. Even her
grimace was spot on, like his. Also her success was
huge. Twenty-six weeks after that, "The Immigrants" --
this "little play," which Thomashefsky had hesitated to
buy."
When Mogulesko became healthy, he again
performed as "Feitel Pavolye." Leon Blank tells about
this:
" ... That as quickly as they announced it,
that Mogulesko was healthy again, and that he his
performing in the role of "Feitel Pavolye" in the
People's Theatre, they bought up the tickets like matzo-water. Everyone
wanted to see the famous comic in the role, which he had
played so shyly, so talented, and so confidently."
"The Immigrants" was never published. A manuscript,
"Emigrants" can be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
Due to the success of "The Immigrants," the managers
of the Yiddish theatres again made an inquiry of
Shomer's plays, and he wrote two new plays: "Di grine
(The Greenhorn)," and "Di goldene medina (The Golden
Land)."
"The Greenhorn" was played in the Thalia
Theatre with David Kessler and Berta Kalich in the main
roles, but the play did not have any success and was
soon taken off the stage.
Per B. Gorin, he noted
that the play, "The Greenhorn, or, The Uncle From
America," a comedy, was staged in 1901.
The play
was not published, and also there is no manuscript of it
anywhere.
About "The Golden Land," which was
staged in January 1902 in the "People's Theatre," Rose
Shomer-Bachelis writes:
"The play that my father
built was based on a very important question about that time,
when many Jewish immigrant girls used to go into
shopwork and saved their earnings, so their grooms could
go to college and study to become a doctor, a lawyer, or a
dentist. And when the young people used to finish their
studies, they would just forgot about their brides, who spent
their young years in the shops, working and waiting for
them, and married rich Yankees. ... Except
Mogulesko, who was still ill, the same actors
participated in the play, as in "The Immigrants,"
but especially excelling in it was Bessie Thomashefsky
as the rich "Yankee," whose husband (Boris Thomashefsky)
is taken by the shop girl (Sophia Karp)[?] .
Bessie Thomashefsky tells:
" ... In the play we
come out to play the role of the intriguer. This was the
first time that I am going to play such a role, because
no Yiddish star-actor wants to play any intriguer roles.
... However, he found a "spasab" (means).
I made myself special clothes for the role for a
thousand dollars. I also scratched out for the play
a couple of good phrases from somewhere and -- my
intriguer turned out to be an almost grateful role
for me. "The Golden Land" had become a great hit (success), and we made a lot
of money."
"The Golden Land" was not published. A
manuscript can be found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO.
Due to the great success, Shomer's name continued to
be so popular, that Jacob Sapirstein, who had then began
to publish the first Yiddish morning newspaper, "Der
morgn zhurnal (The Morning Journal)," invited Shomer to
write novel under his own name.
Shomer then
published with M. Goldman a monthly Yiddish-hebew
journal, "Di natsyon (The Nation)," and composed
"Shaykevitsh's Nayer Briefentshtelekher," which also
had a list of Hebrew and Yiddish words (from which
there
were published about fifty editions. At the same time he
wrote novels in the "Morning Journal" and "Tageblat."
In the summer of 1903 he moved to 63rd Street, not
far from Central Park. Among the frequent guests in his
home then were Abraham Goldfaden and his wife Paulina.
As Shomer's daughter, Rose, tells it, he had in those
several years written ten theatre pieces. One of the
plays, "Ani Shlomo," was sold to Joseph Edelstein, the
manager of the Thalia Theatre, but it was never staged.
"Ani Shlomo" was not published. A manuscript under
the name, "Dem kenigs shpiegel, oder, Ani Shlomo," a
historical operetta in four acts, can be found in the
Shomer Archive in YIVO.
According to B. Gorin, in
1903 there was staged Shomer's drama, "Amerikaner
Yiddishkeyt." the play was not published, and no
manuscript of it exists.
In 1909 in Warsaw there
was performed a dramatization [?] of Shomer's novel, "Di
blinde yesoyme (The Blind Orphan)," oder, Tsvishn
tigern," Vilna, 1911 (perhaps there is an earlier
edition), under the name, "Di blinde yesoyme."
About the success, Noah Prilutski writes:
"From the newspapers, the announcement that (in
the Ermitage, formerly the Muranow Theatre) there is
playing, "Kaminski's second personnel" -- "Di blinde yesoyme," a lebensbild in
five acts, nine scenes by Shaykevitsh. Nine scenes,
(and not Abi Vaserer [?], but [poor translation]):
1) In place of the yellow in Troshchabe, 2) In the
forest of Povanz, 3) The first visit, or conscience
of a thief, 4) By the tiger in the laps, 5) On
Gensha Street near the Beit Olam Yom Kippur, 6) The
desparate mother, 7) The Death of an eight-year-old
martyr-child, 8) The Defeat of the Bandits, 9) The
mother finds her children. In additon a remark from
the "director": "The story takes place in Warsaw,
where everyone can become acquainted with the Warsaw
life of the buildings and cellars" ...
From a
private letter it is possible to realize that the
satisfaction of the audience was indescribable. Like
a herd of young calves, people were chasing each
other to see the nine scenes, "like the mother who
finds her children." Evening after evening brought
the box office six hundred rubles in cash, although
seats in the theatre are no more than 400-500 rubles
..."
And about a dramatization (?) of
Shomer's play, "Di Ayzerne froy" (which
was published as a
novel, "Di Ayzerne froy, oder, Dos ferkoyfter kind,"
Vilna, 1882), Noah Prilutski writes:
"After
the "Geshvolene sborn (swollen cheeks?)," the name
that the "Blinde yesoyme" had been given, It was
perfectly normal for Shomer's star to once again
rise into the Warsaw sky. ... In issue 130 of both
Warsaw newspapers, thre was already published such
an announcement: "Shortly there will be performed a very
interesting melodrama, "Di Ayzerne froy," adapted
from a Shaykevitsh novel. There is a saying: no
sheep can be born from a snake. The readers
will certainly remember the story with the "Ayzerner
froy" ... The entire summer season of last year
(1909) flowed under Shomer's star."
According to Jacob Mestel, "Di Ayzerne froy"
for
many years was among the most popular plays in
Galicia. Especially excelling in the play were the
acting pair of Norbert and Stefanie (Shteif-)
Glimer.
On 20 December 1923 in the Irving
Place Theatre, for the eighteenth yahrzeit of
Shomer, there was staged Shomer's comedy, "Der
farlibter shnorer" (which he had written for
Mogulesko, but it had not been staged due to Mogulesko's
illness), adapted under the name, "Oy, Oy, Di libe"
by Shomer's son, A., with Goldenburg and
Weisenfreund in the main roles.
The play is
no longer performed and was never published. A
manuscript under the name, "Der farlibter shnorer",
a comedy in four acts, can be found in the Shomer
Archive in YIVO.
Many plays from Shomer were
never performed, nor published, but manuscripts of
them can fe found in the Shomer Archive in YIVO:
"Der "poymenik," a drama in five acts (as a
novel, "Der poymenik, oder, Dos heldishe medkhen,"
published in 1892, 42 pages).
"Zrubbl" (can
be the play, "Shibt tsyon"), a historical operetta
in four acts, whichis "based on true facts."
"Di
almone" (there is a manuscript in YIVO under the name, "Di
raykhe almone," a drama in four acts).
"Sappho, oder, Di royte khupe," a drama in four
acts.
"Di khrth" (a manuscript in YIVO under
the name, "Di hrth, oder, Di ferdinte shtrafe," a
tragi-comedy in four acts; and also a manuscript,
"Di ferdinte shtrafe," a drama in four acts).
"Di blinde printsesin," a historical drama in
five acts.
"Der tayvl, oder, Der shtrenger
bos," a comedy in five acts.
"Di tseshterte
tnayim," a comedy in five acts, adapted from the
German.
"Der kalter gazln," a historical
drama in four acts.
"Di reykhe yerushe," a
comedy in five acts (as a novel, published under the
name, "Di raykhe yerushe, oder, A mesh on a suf,"
Vilna, 1886).
"Der shvueh-brekher, oder,
Alterl," a tragi-comedy in five acts, as well
"Tsvishn libe un raykhtum, oder, Alterl."
"Yidishe inkvizitsyon, oder, Di ashet ish," a drama
in four acts.
"Glik," a historical-fantastic
operettta in four acts.
"Elkhasnador, oder,
Shtreng un gut," a tragi-comedy in five acts.
"Di maranen," a historical drama in four acts.
(According to B. Gorin, a play "Di geheyme yidn,"
is
perhaps a dramatization from a novel with the same
name, published in 1901 in New York?).
"Di
roite yarmulke, oder, Der shreklekher geyst," a
historical drama in four acts.
"Der falsher
prints," a biblical-historical operetta (after the
Talmudic legend) in four acts, no tables {?}. (a
manuscript can also be found with the author's
daughter, Rose. Published as a story, Vilna, 1888).
"Di shvartse makht," a drama in four acts.
"Dem tatens zundele" (1895).
Like the
regisseur and founder of the "Habima," Nakhum Zemakh
has told Shomer's daughter, Rose, that in his
younger years, he had played a scene from Shomer's play,
"Mord oys libe."
The play is not mentioned
anywhere, and there is no manuscript of it.
Shomer's handwriting. |
