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  3. Yiddish Empire: The Vilna Troupe, Jewish Theater, and the Art of Itinerancy

Yiddish Empire: The Vilna Troupe, Jewish Theater, and the Art of Itinerancy

Debra Caplan
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Yiddish Empire tells the story of how a group of itinerant Jewish performers became the interwar equivalent of a viral sensation, providing a missing chapter in the history of the modern stage. During World War I, a motley group of teenaged amateurs, impoverished war refugees, and out- of- work Russian actors banded together to revolutionize the Yiddish stage. Achieving a most unlikely success through their productions, the Vilna Troupe (1915– 36) would eventually go on to earn the attention of theatergoers around the world. Advancements in modern transportation allowed Yiddish theater artists to reach global audiences, traversing not only cities and districts but also countries and continents. The Vilna Troupe routinely performed in major venues that had never before allowed Jews, let alone Yiddish, upon their stages, and operated across a vast territory, a strategy that enabled them to attract unusually diverse audiences to the Yiddish stage and a precursor to the organizational structures and travel patterns that we see now in contemporary theater. Debra Caplan's history of the Troupe is rigorously researched, employing primary and secondary sources in multiple languages, and is engagingly written.
  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Prologue
  • One. Spectacular Failures
  • Two. Jargon Art
  • Interlude I
    • Three. Between Two Worlds
  • Interlude II
    • Four. Nomadic Chutzpah
  • Interlude III
    • Five. The Vilna Troupe Nexus
  • Interlude IV
    • Epilogue
    • Notes
    • Bibliography
    • Index
Citable Link
Published: 2018
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-472-13077-1 (hardcover)
  • 978-0-472-03725-4 (paper)
  • 978-0-472-12368-1 (ebook)
Subject
  • History:European History
  • Jewish Studies
  • Theater and Performance

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  • Chapter 213
  • Chapter 314
  • Chapter 47
  • Interlude III1
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  • publicity stills20
  • Vilna Troupe productions20
  • Sonia Alomis16
  • Alexander Asro15
  • Asro and Alomis's Vilna Troupe13
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Drawing of actress Sonia Alomis

Portrait of Sonia Alomis in The Dybbuk by English painter Walter Sickert

From Chapter 3

Portrait of Sonia Alomis as Leah in The Dybbuk by English avant-garde painter Walter Sickert. The caption reads "The greatest actress of the age." London, likely 1922.

Black-and-white photograph of three actors in Jewish religious costumes.

Der dibek (The Dybbuk), Berlin, 1923

From Chapter 3

Alexander Asro as Khonen (left), Noah Nachbush as the Messenger (center), and Sonia Alomis as Leah (right) in Der dibek (The Dybbuk) by S. An-sky. Performed by Asro and Alomis's Vilna Troupe in Berlin, 1923.

Black-and-white photograph of a wedding scene.

Wedding scene from Der dibek (The Dybbuk), Paris, 1923

From Chapter 3

The wedding scene from Der dibek (The Dybbuk) by S. An-sky. Performed by Asro and Alomis's Vilna Troupe in Paris, 1923.

Black-and-white photograph of actors on the deck of a ship.

Vilna Troupe members departing from Hamburg Port, 1924

From Chapter 4

Members of Asro and Alomis's Vilna Troupe departing from Hamburg Port, 1924

Black-and-white photograph of two actors on the deck of a ship arriving in New York harbor.

Alexander Asro and Sonia Alomis arriving in New York, 1924

From Chapter 4

Alexander Asro and Sonia Alomis arriving in New York on board the Majestic, January 10, 1924

Black-and-white photograph of actors posing for a group photograph.

Vilna Troupe in New York City with Boris Thomashefsky

From Chapter 4

Members of the Vilna Troupe in New York City with Boris Thomashefsky, 1924

Newspaper clipping from a scrapbook

A page from Sonia Alomis's scrapbook, 1924

From Chapter 4

A page from Sonia Alomis's scrapbook showing the actress featured in the New York Review alongside French actress Mistinguett and American actresses Irene Fenwick and Caroll McComas. New York, 1924.

Black-and-white photograph of two actors and their young son.

Alexander Asro and Sonia Alomis with their son, Joseph Asro

From Interlude III

Alexander Asro (left) and Sonia Alomis (right) with their son Joseph Asro (center). Asro and Alomis had to leave Joseph behind in Europe when they immigrated to the United States in 1924. Joseph Asro did not see his parents for six years while they worked on acquiring citizenship.

Black-and-white photograph of two actors kneeling on a stage

Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, performed in Yiddish in Warsaw, 1928

From Chapter 4

Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, performed in Yiddish as Di tayve under di ulmer by Mazo's Vilna Troupe in Warsaw, 1928.

Black-and-white photograph of a large group of actors on stage in costume.

Bay nakht afn altn mark (At Night in the Old Marketplace), Warsaw 1928

From Chapter 4

Bay nakht afn altn mark (At Night in the Old Marketplace) by Y. L. Peretz. Performed by Mazo's Vilna Troupe in Warsaw 1928.

Black-and-white photograph of an actor shackled and another actor holding a sword.

Yidnshtot (Jewish City), Lvov, 1929

From Chapter 4

Yidnshtot (Jewish City) by Aaron Zeitlin. Performed by Mazo's Vilna Troupe in Lvov, 1929.

Cover image of a woman and a goat.

Cover of volume commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Vilna Troupe

From Chapter 5

Cover of 15 yor Vilner trupe (15 Years Vilna Troup), a volume commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Vilna Troupe. Published in Lodz, 1931.

Black-and-white photograph of Mary Martin seated and looking at the camera.

Signed photograph of Mary Martin

From Chapter 5

Signed photograph of Mary Martin, given to Alexander Asro in 1938. Asro and Martin performed together in Leave It to Me on Broadway.

Black-and-white photograph of Sophie Tucker in costume.

Signed photograph of Sophie Tucker

From Chapter 5

Signed photograph of Sophie Tucker, given to Sonia Alomis in 1940. Sophie Tucker performed with Alexander Asro in Leave It To Me on Broadway from 1938-1939 and toured with Asro and Alomis when they took the play across the country.

Black-and-white photograph of two parents and their soldier son returned from World War II

Sonia Alomis and Alexander Asro with their son after World War II

From Chapter 5

Sonia Alomis (left) and Alexander Asro (right) with their son Joseph Asro (center) upon his return from World War II. Originally published in the Forward, March 26, 1945.

Audio File Icon

Noah Nachbush reciting a monologue from Der dibek (The Dybbuk), Recording 1 of 2

From Chapter 3 and Chapter 5

Vilna Troupe actor Noah Nachbush reciting a monologue from Der dibek (The Dybbuk). From a self-produced record that Nachbush made in the 1950's entitled "Noah Nachbush's Gems of Yiddish Poetry and Folklore."

Audio File Icon

Noah Nachbush reciting a monologue from Der dibek (The Dybbuk), Recording 2 of 2

From Chapter 3 and Chapter 5

Vilna Troupe actor Noah Nachbush reciting a monologue from Der dibek (The Dybbuk)

Excerpt from The Dybbuk film (1937): Leah invites Khonen's spirit to her wedding

From Chapter 3 and Chapter 5

Excerpt from The Dybbuk: Leah invites Khonen's spirit to her wedding

The Dybbuk film: The Dance of Death, excerpt

From Chapter 3 and Chapter 5

Excerpt from The Dybbuk film (1937): The Dance of Death

Di seder nakht (The Feast of Passover) film, excerpt

From Chapter 5

Excerpt from Di seder nakht (The Feast of Passover) film, 1931

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