New-York tribune., 1919-03-23
VOW that the Yiddish stage has risen
nj 10 the dignity of two-volumc
octavo-size history of itself, just

octavo-size history of itself, just
issued from the press Of the "Lit-
.r.r;sche Verlag," of New York, and from
.h. pen Of g. Gorin, many of the patrons of
lint theatre will doubtless be surprised at
,hs long tale unfolded. In numerous respects
ths history Of the Yiddish stage is unlike
that of any other. 1t ranges, like the race
itself, through many ages, through many
tongues, through countless vicissitudes;
Il ;s replete with paradox and popularity;
Il struggles against religious and racial in
h;bitions; it flows on through subter-
rsnean passages, appearing now here, now
there, and disappearing again. At first it
;s sporadic; indeed, an annual event only,
deriving Qike the European thcatre) from
biblical inspirations; then, again like the
European stage, it becomes slowly secular
lied, yet still sporadic until centuries after
;ts first appearance, when Goldfaden, in
1876, actually founds the first real Jewish
stage in Rumania. Thence it goes to Rus
sia, to be driven forth from that more or
less hospitable haven, and at length finds
/, home in America, which for the most
part means New York City.
Before Gorins account appeared there
was little indeed accessible even to the
Investigator. And although these two vol
umes are not organic history, and are not
always happy in the fusion Of history with
criticism and comment, they are not only
entertaining and instructive, but combine
to make what is, in a very fne sense of
the word, pioneer work. Particularly
valuable in its early chapters, which trace
the origin of the theatre idea itself among
the early Jews, it is of no less worth for
the details of the actual founding of the
stage centuries later. And if the bibliog-
raphy is at times unsatisfactory, that is a
matter which may easily be remeded later.
The essence is there, and peculiarly hu-
man document it presents to the student of
the drama in general.
The ancient Jews had no drama. Gorin
places little faith in the attempt made to
claim the Song of Songs or the Book of
Job as forms of early dramatic effort.
The race had no use for such entertain
ment and frowned upon those who sue
eumbed to its charms. Had it not been
for the Feast of Esther (Purim in Hebrew
drama among the Jews might never have
arisen. On this one occasion all inhibitions
we're cast aside; the triumph over Haman
assumed the proportions of national
celebration. Haman, every purm, was
hanged in ehigy, to the accompaniment of
jests and gbes, the better Of which tend
cd to be remembered from year to year.
The remembrance Of these quondam spon-
taneous utterances gradually assumed an
ordered form, and when the quips were
so divided as to lead to dialogue the germs
= OF drama were already present. From
burnings of efiges and other rites sug-
gested by the mediaval carnivals to en-
acting the story of Ahasuerus, Esther,
Haman and Mordccai was not far step,
and as crude as the early treatments Of
the biblical narrative were, they were none
the less drama in the same sense as were
the Continental moralities and mysteries.
Note, however, that only on the occasion
OF Purim was the otherwise objectionable
liberty at first countenanced.
This is not to say that there was no
drama written by Hebrews in the early
days. Only they did not at first write in
hebrew. Gorin records Hebrew drama
IN Greek, written about $50 B. c., on a
Eufipidean model, Of which fragments re
MAN. That denunciations against actors
we're not always effective is shown, too,
oy the fact that Nero's favoritc performer
was Hebrew