The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-28
DRAMA IN THE PURLIEUS
The Philosophy of Hamlet Por.
trayed by Bowery Artists.
Sarah Hrrnhardt's Perronatien Of the
Melancholy Dane Ia he EmuIstcd
house - An Adaptation OF ..Faust''
Rendered I'm the Siddish Tongue.

Hamlet and his soiloquy have penetrat
ed even to the Bowery and every actor i'm
yiddish or in the Neapolitan dialect feels
his life to he failure unless in some way
ar nther I've can reproduce on the stage the
philosophy nf. the melancholy Dane. I'm
those sariid purlieus there al. "ffamlets"
literally translated and "Haml-tS'' adapt
ed to an almost uurecoguiz abl. extent
and. following the example of Sarah Bern
hsrdt. a female Hamlet will som he seen
ST the Thalia Theatre
Not long ago strange. pathetic charac-
ter appeared in sort Of Yiddsh adapta-
ton Of Faust called Man. God and
the Devil The playwright Jacob Gordin
is -the great philosophical Bowsry dram
atist. and some OF the speeches in this
play pass current downtown as being the
equal of ITO be or not to be" I'm melan-
choly wisdom. The resemblance Of this
character to Hamlet lies merely in his
melancholy and his habit of philosophiz-
ing.
His wisdom is put mainly in the mouth
of an old man whose function is that Of
badchen. or wedding bard. His duty is
TO make rhymes. crack jokes. and divert
place among the children of Israel. On
the stage he is made into a figure half
absurd and half divine. is partly crazy
and partly inspired. In Man. God. and
the Devil he is the father OF the Jewish
Faust. and after his sons neral degrade
tion is beaten and neglected by him Al
though sorrow is at his heart he mus.
always lest and sing his extemporized
verses
In one scene this old man is talking to
the tempter of his son. the devil of this
Jeweish Faust. The devil laughs at the
bsdchen's attempt to find a rhyme. and
says:
THAT is the way with a man He is
made in Gods image, has lived over sixty
years. and goes about painfully hunting
mn foolish rhymes. Wherefore should man
exist? What has he done? What does
he understand more than 4 simple beast?
All men go about rhyming foo,ishly. and
after many years The angel Of death
comes and says: Seek no more rhymes 90
You laugh at my rhymes" replied the
badchen. When child has the stom-
ach ache you give him playrhing. and
he stops crying. Do you think the TOP
stops the pain? No, but the child plays
and forgets his pain. Ny friend, every
man has the stomach ache You are edu-
Gated and so you need big plsythings. You
need to play with life and death. Other
men play with other things. J, for my
poor part play with rhymes. But I do it
because my stomach aches and l wish to
forget it.
You ask me-" continued the bard. adj
dressing the devil. in what am different
from beast. beast that has the gift
of rhyminS- A badchen, indeed, might be
beast. but a beast cannot be a badchen.
] will tell you what hadcheu is. He is
a man with a soul. like other men. He Is
a jew. aud a Jew has understanding You
laugh when you want to laugh All men
laugh when they want to laugh and weep
when they want to weep. But J. the
bard, laugh and rhyme when l want to
weep, when ! want, SO much. TO weep,
when my heart is torn within me. and
no one knows why. For in truth TO what
have | attained in all my life and what
is my share in this fine house? And yet
/ must laugh and laugh and aniUse the
people, | who am sick of the ,TOrld.
whose son has been turned from he pious
ways of his fathers and has lost mis- soul
through greed, and abuses his old father"
In following scene he and his grand
daughter comment on the change that has
taken place since wealth came 10 the
family through sin.
People laugh al us said the girl. and
call us newly rich, and father is bad to
me and to you.
Her grandfather became serious again.
and replied:
..Aiy fate is different from that Of other
men. for IL H. everywhere the case that
the son respects his father and stands in
fear of him. but with ne il is the re-
verse II is I who fear my son; ii is ]
who must cringe before him
Why do you fear him2" asked the girl.
Are you afraid that he viii put you
across his knee"
81 am simply afraid said the badchen.
Il would ike to stand up before him like
a man. but ] fear To- In my mouth ]
repeat rhymes but all is not wei here in
my heart. / am a nobody since he be
came rich. He looks on me with his cold
eyes. with which he counts his gold.
There is a frost in his look. and a frost
in his heart. II seems to me that much
money brings down over a mans eyes a
deadly frost. All. child, ! am an old ig-
norant man, and can find no place for my
self any more.
Said the girl: You amount n little
now, dear grandfather. and sou ike to
drink your little glass
Yes said Inc old man GTeamily. Il
am now no good, but there was a time
6here he began 10 rhyme and swing his
body to and FRO, speaking in a sing-song)
when ] was great ana hoDprcd. when !,
the badchen. before the Jews lost their
faith. went from house to house at wed
ding time. Then they all pointed to me
the women all began 80 whisper when /
entered. There he is they would say
jOyfully. there Is our great bard Then
7 would sing and they would be quiet as
II IN a temple and listen to me My eyes
would burn with unnatural fire. my heart
would beat and fiEtt-r, strains of poetry
came from my tongue. All the people
would be deeply moved. I made them
laugh and weep at my viii. The bride
would be covered with tears. and drunken
rnen would become sober al my gong and
they who were sober would become drunk
1t was "a good time. that, fine time"
why SO sad grandfather, DEAR said
the gil. Let's haye-a wedding now, for
fun. eh2'
The Old man fol into the mood the girl
stood upon a chair and the badchen as
the curtain descended on the scene. sang
and danced gayly before her.-The New
York Commercial Advertiser.