The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-29
NOW SOCIETY HAS
THE GHETTO FAD

theater into restaurant during inter-
missions. ss.- -
Strikingly interesting, too, is the
Jewish matron at the theater-inter-
eSting but by no means beautiful. A
tenet of her orthodox faith is that be-
ing married she must no longer attract.
Only by her hideousness can her for
tunate husband be blessed with a sense
Of conjugal security.
Therefore, with self-sacrifice worthy
of a better cause, your orthodox Yid-
dish matron takes stereotyped meas
ure to remove all VeStige of comeli-
ness-to render herself an object not
calculated to attract the sensual eye of
the destroyer of homes. Chief of these
precautions is smooth combed black
wig which she wears over her own
natural hair. Every Jewish matron in
the audience wears one. The effect is
striking, but the hideousness is ali the
more marked by the strong contrast
afforded by the beauty Of the spin
sters. A popularity Of the audience is
the number of children it contains.
When the Ghetto mother goes to the
theater she takes all her family with
her-even to the baby in swaddling
clothes. Sometimes even the family
dog and cat is brought along This is
no eXaggerat1on. The writer on the oc-
casion of his visit to one of these play
.
nine and feline family perched in the
laps Of their owners.
So much for the audience: but what
Of the theaters themselves. The Ghetto
has three Of these, known as the Tha-
liza, the Peoples and the Windsor.
Ihey are all large and commodious
houses. although their interior decora-
lions are dingy in the extreme. One
would expect something different from
q people noted for their lavish display.
Gazing around the house one is struck
with the air of sombreness. 1t seems
IN perfect accord with the oppressive
odor Of garlic that at all times per
vades the place
or course Yiddish Is the language in
which the plays are rendered. To the
untuned ear the words sound strangely
marsh and uncouth. Occasionally
though, the players lapse into pure
German, seemingly at their own mi
uative, and at rare intervals one is
startled to hear word of English in
terspersed In this strange jargon. The
introduction Of these foreign tongues
into the native dialect is intended,
doubtless, as sort of delicate COM
pllment to the audience who seem to
| appreciate this tribute to their poly-
glot powers.
Quite ambitious are the plays pro-
duced. Although themes Of purely To-
NSAOi anu II4etA 4ClSI pTGDOnQ6raI6,
such productions as Uncle Toms
Cabin Macbeth" Hamlet" king
Lear" "Spartacus," or "Dr. Jekyl and
| Mr.. Hyde" "Du Barry" Ibsen's crea-
lions, etc, are regular Ghetto favor
ties. There are, perhaps, few strang-
| er sights to be witnessed In things the
atrfcal than to see a typical Southern
Uncle Tom bemoaning his fate in ex-
presslve Yiddish and q black demon
OF a Topsy emitting her verbal sparks
OF unconscious blasphemy in the Ian
| guage Of the Ghetto. Save for the
| strange tongue though. Uncle Toms
Cabin is given at the Yidd;sh theater
| exactly as it is at the American thea
| tiers, bloodhounds, breaking ice, cotton
| plantations, ct al. No attempt Is
made to translate the classical plays
verbatim. The Ghetto author takes
| the classic and gives the theme q local
setting. In King Lear" for instance.
a Jewish patriarch goes through the
| trials and tribulations of Shakespeare's
| noble character. When about to .li-
| vide his property among his Jewish
children he is warned by his companion
| IN fortune and misfortune to remember
| the case of Shakespeare's Kink Lear.
In Hamlet" too, the young Jewish
prototype of the melancholy Dane So
lilcquizing compareA his unfortunate
! sssaAfAtiata Es4A tAaA Ae AnAskAzUsaas:s