Glasgow’s Jewish Institute players and their narratives of Scottish-Jewish identity

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Glasgow Jewish Institute Players was an innovative community theatre group whose work explored the many facets of Jewish identity in inter- and post-war Britain. This essay provides an overview of the company’s production history and repertoire, including plays by its inspirational founder, the playwright and director Avrom Greenbaum (1903–1963). It argues that the group’s output reflected the identities and self-image of a Glasgow Jewish community that was seeking to consolidate and rationalise its place in Scottish and British society in the inter- and post-war periods.