In the early spring of 2007 i was approached by the then directorial mfa candidate david savoy with a request to design the scenery for his thesis production a dybbuk by s. With its evocative picture of a metaphysical world that shadows our own, and. Horodezkys 1909 russianlanguage article on the maiden of ludmir. Ansky s wellknown drama of mystical passion and demonic possession, along with littleknown works of his autobiographical and fantastical prose fiction and an excerpt from his fourvolume chronicle of the. What s unique or universal about yiddish wedding customs and the tradition of the badkhn wedding jester. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Under the influence of the russian narodnik movement, ansky became interested in ethnography, as well as socialism, and became a political activist. Ansky s world war iera play, which had conflated mass violence against jews at the hands of ukrainian nationalist bogdan chmielnicki in 1648 with the mass slaughter of eastern european jews in 191418, waszy. The dybbuk the yiddish book centers great jewish books. Based on jewish folklore, its dark implications of mysterious, otherworldly forces at work in a quaint and simple village make for gripping, suspenseful theater. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the dybbuk.
Anyway, the dybbuk is actual a theatre play based on a folklore story s. Press quotes the translation of joachim neugroschel, savvily adapted by tony kushner, and now further revised by him as a dybbuk or between two worlds, all come funnily, furiously, crotchetily alive. She is taken to a great chasidic rabbi for exorcism. The other members of the design team were ariel rivera. Between expulsion of the dybbuk and the wedding ceremony. The moscow art theaters premiere performance of the dybbukthe indisputable.
It was originally written in russian and later translated into yiddish by. Sender, leahs father, will never accept the impoverished chonen as a. The dybbuk between two worlds yiddishenglish edition x, 192 pp. This kit presents resources to help teachers teach about the play, its. Albert, managing director director jeremy aluma musical director alex. The dybbuk is a masterful play, full of deeprooted obsessions and dramatic suspense, fascinating for the glimpse it provides of the rich, poetic, and often tragic culture of the chassidim. Tony kushners adaptation of anskys a dybbuk explores the themes of lust and desire, of worship and holiness, and corruption and sin. But before he can expel the spirit, the sage must discover who the dybbuk was in life, why he has possessed the maiden. But the interpretive point of departure that i want to present differs from theirs, for it pertains to the genderbased perspective on the issue and to its social meaning as tied to the kabbalistic tradition. The study of the mystic kabala was common to all the men of the community and life in miropol hovers between two worlds the real world and that of supernatural forces. Next april the israel national theatre habimah wih present. Ansky we look at the powerful currents that made innovators and rebels out of playwrights peretz hirschbein and s. Ansky s the dybbuk this article examines historical catastrophe in michal waszynskis 1937 yiddish film, the dybbuk.
Alsberg and winnifred katzinadapted for radio and directed by liane aukin why, from. Ansky in an adaptation by tony kushner, and i accepted his offer. This community was a closed world, remote from modern times. In this classic translation by henry alsberg and winifred katzin, the authentic cadences of the original yiddish are deftly preserved. The music intertwines folk elements with contemporary textures to create a haunting, selfcontained world. Chajes, anskys dybbuk as heretical midrash, jewish.
Ansky was born in chashniki, vitebsk governorate, russian empire now belarus, and died in otwock, poland on november 8, 1920. An altogether excellent anthology, this volume offers a superior introduction to the brilliant, brooding works of a yiddish master publishers weekly. In this case, the dybbuk is an impoverished student that possesses a young bride on her wedding day. Leah, his daughter in hebrew the name means despondently. The play of plays according co some sources, ansky presented an early russian version of the dybbuk the renowned director svanislavsky who. Ansky formed an expedition which roamed throughout the ukraine to preserve and collect hasidic folktales. The idea for the play came to ansky as he led a jewish folklore expedition through small towns of eastern europe, which was cut short by the outbreak of world war i. The music intertwines folk elements with contemporary textures to create a haunting, selfcontained world, while. Ncjf program notes pdf link the dybbuk is a yiddish film classic based on the celebrated play of the same name by s. The dybbuk, regarded as the classic drama of the yiddish stage, has long frightened yet fascinated audiences throughout the world. The dybbuk is a yiddish film classic based on the celebrated play of the same name by s.
A dybbuk or between two worlds broadway play publishing inc. The story of a dybbuk is a story of love and death, but also of survival and. Between two worlds is a multimedia chamber opera in. One reason for this isolation was that jews were restricted to living in certain areas of the country the pale of settlement and only a small number were allowed higher education. Dybbuk trilogy, or how the maiden of ludmir became a. Includes the plays theresa, a dead woman on holiday and the dybbuk presented as a trilogy at the new end theatre in 1995 before touring much of europe, the dybbuk pays homage to anskis great russian classic. Tony kushners adaptation of ansky s a dybbuk explores the themes of lust and desire, of worship and holiness, and corruption and sin. Click download or read online button to get the dybbuk book now. The dybbuk, never performed in his lifetime, was staged in yiddish in warsaw by the vilna troupe as a commemoration to its author on december 9, 1920, his shloshim, under dovid herman, the director ansky had preferred. With its evocative picture of a metaphysical world that shadows our own, and the spiritual price to be paid for avaricious selfinterest, it has intriguing correspondences with kushners own metaphysical epic.
Anskys wellknown play, the dybbuk 1920, which describes how the soul of a betrayed man comes back to haunt the body of his betrothed. Ansky adapted by tony kushner translated from yiddish. Ansky s mystical yiddish drama the dybbuk is a play almost perfectly suited to tony kushners tastes and talents. Ansky, written during the turbulent years of 19121917. Ansky was born in chashniki, vitebsk governorate, russian empire now belarus, and died in otwock, poland on november 8, 1920 ethnographic work. We use cookies to offer you a better experience, personalize content, tailor advertising, provide social media features, and better understand the use of our services. At the beginning of the twentieth century, european artists created works evincing their fascination with what they called the tribal or the primitive, a trend that has been studied thoroughly by art historians over the past few decades. Anskys wellknown drama of mystical passion and demonic possession, along with littleknown works of his autobiographical and fantastical prose fiction and an excerpt from his fourvolume chronicle of the eastern front in the first world war, the destruction of galacia. Anskys monumental play, the dybbuk, at the london aldwych. Written before the outbreak of world war i, it wasnt produced until 1920, shortly after ansky s death. The other members of the design team were ariel rivera for costume design a bfa design and production graduate, ian giles for lighting design a bfa design. Set in a ghetto in eastern europe in 1942, it traces the final moments of five irreligious jews.
To everyones surprise, the production was a raging success that played for years and established the companys reputation. Originally titled tsvishn tsvey veltn between two worlds, the play was based on the mystical concept from. Ansky, 9780871402622, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. S ansky s mystical yiddish drama the dybbuk is a play almost perfectly suited to tony kushners tastes and talents. Ansky s wellknown drama of mystical passion and demonic possession, along with littleknown works of his autobiographical and fantastical prose fiction and an excerpt from his fourvolume chronicle of the eastern front in the first world war, the destruction of galacia. Anskys wellknown drama of mystical passion and demonic possession, along with littleknown works of his autobiographical and fantastical prose fiction and an excerpt from his fourvolume chronicle of the. Ansky a selfstyled nihilist by the age of seventeen, he learned russian from his friend chaim zhitlowsky, left his native vitebsk also the birthplace of marc chagall, went undercover as semyon akimovich, and threw his formidable energies into studying, educating, and radicalizing the russian narod the folk. Ansky, but the dybbuk was by far the most notable one. This chapter addresses the scenes in the dybbuk trilogy, first examining stella kleins recollection of belarishas possession.
Ansky s the dybbuk is arguably the most iconic play of the entire canon of jewish dramatic literature. J hoberman, the forward s anskys mystical yiddish drama the dybbuk is a play almost perfectly suited to tony kushners tastes and talents. It was first performed in yiddish by the vilna troupe in warsaw in 1920, and by the habima theatre in moscow in 1922. With its evocative picture of a metaphysical world that shadows our. This article examines historical catastrophe in michal waszynskis 1937 yiddish film, the dybbuk. A dybbuk is actually a ghost that sticks around after death to possess the body.
Written before the outbreak of world war i, it wasnt produced until 1920, shortly after anskys death. The most popular dybbuk in jewish cultural history is that of s. Ansky pseudonym of shloyme zaynvl rapoport, 18631920 was a russianjewish ethnographer and playwright whose signature work the dybbuk played a seminal role in shaping modern yiddish and hebrew theater. She is taken to a great chassidic rabbi for exorcism. Week 2 class 1 the dybbuk and s ansky we look at the.
All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. A dybbuk available for download and read online in other formats. The dybbuk, saul anskys 1923 work remains the most wellknown and widely produced yiddish play. Ansky adapted by tony kushner translated from yiddish by joachim neugroschel music composed by ilya levinson world premiere at the hartford stage company, hartford, connecticut mark lamos, artistic director. It was originally written in russian and later translated into yiddish by ansk y himself. The action of the dybbuk takes place in a small chassidic village in russia at the turn of the century. But before he can expel the spirit, the sage must discover who the dybbuk was in life, why he has. Between two worlds is a multimedia chamber opera in three acts, composed by ofer ben amots and inspired by s. A dybbuk or between two worlds considered by many to be the greatest yiddish drama, the dybbuk recounts the tale of a wealthy mans daughter who is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved. This article focuses on the threeyear period of work on the dybbuk by evgeny vakhtangov in habima 19191922 and on the processes occurring during this period in the history and in the private lives of the director and the actors. Chajes university of haifa, israel anskys dybbuk as heretical midrash abstract.
In this case, the dybbuk is an improverished student that possesses a young bride on her wedding day. A dybbuk is actually a ghost that sticks around after death to possess the body of the living for malevolent purposes. The article analyzes elements that impacted the style of the performance. Under the influence of the russian narodnik movement, ansky became interested in ethnography, as well as socialism, and became a political. But before he can expel the spirit, the sage must discover who the dybbuk was in life, why he has possessed the maiden, and most importantly, how to balance the scales of cosmic justice. The dybbuk, expressionistic drama in four acts by s. The story is about a young bride who is possessed by a dybbuk this can best be compared to an evil spirit, or demon. While it is often called the yiddish romeo and juliet. Leahs dybbuk 1 leahs dybbuk a stage play cast leah25.
Anskys the dybbuk is arguably the most iconic play of the entire canon of jewish dramatic literature. Anskys mystical yiddish drama the dybbuk is a play almost perfectly suited to tony kushners tastes and talents. A dybbuk by tony kushner overdrive rakuten overdrive. If youre a fan of historical fiction, mysticism and paranormal stories, then youll probably enjoy the dybbuk and other writings. In the folklore of eastern european jewry, a dybbuk is a wandering soul that comes to rest in the body of a living person. A dybbuk is a story of a shtetl romance, in which a young student, chonen, falls in love with the daughter of the richest man in town, leah.
625 988 1001 74 65 629 1382 144 842 1147 1277 1303 944 1411 1146 1170 1543 695 495 598 316 1240 194 1199 620 262 999 954 1387 1181 146 1291 1307 287 62 977