Isaac Bashevis-Singer’S Attitude To The Yiddish Theater As Shown In His Works

Abstract

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991) - Nobel prize laureate (1978) in literature, and one of the most prominent Yiddish writers in the 20th century - was among the young men who flocked to the capital. The Yiddish theatre - which played a significant role in Warsaw's cultural life - is hardly mentioned in Bashevis' works. His work offers scant information on the Yiddish theater, its repertoire and its audience, and when a theatrical reference is given it is usually short, one-sided and reveals the author's negative attitude toward the Yiddish stage. Bashevis devoted much attention in his works to a rich gallery of female characters. Male actors are even rarer in Bashevis's works. Reading Bashevis's few descriptions of the Yiddish theater one cannot ignore the echoes of the words and deeds of previous generations. Keywords: female characters; Isaac Bashevis Singer; male actors; Yiddish stage; Yiddish theatre