The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-07-18
~ DRAMA IN
The Jewish Theatre in
Soviet Russia

COVIET RUSSIA, alone among ma
y tons, claims three state-endowed
Jewish theatres. Nor is the reason
hard to find, for it stems from the
Soviet policy of National Cultural
Autonomy. According to this doc
trine every nationality represented
in Russia not only has the right to
use it's own language and develop it's
own drama, but can also count on
the State for active support in the
exercise of this right. AS the Jews
are among the larger of minor ma
tionalities in Russia, and as their ac-
tivity in the fine arts has reached its
greatest distinction in the theatre, it
is natural that the Jewish State The
atre of White Russia, the Jewish
State Theatre of the Ukraine and the
Jewish Kamerny of Moscow should
all find support. 1t is in the theatre
that such men as Altman, Chagall,
Yakulov and Rabinovitch, some of the
most distinguished of the Russian ar
lists, have worked, and it is to the
theatre that such painters as M. Falk
and S. B. Ryback have recently come,
Souhker Der Ryback, widely known
for his cubist paintings, continues
Louis Lozowick, in the Theatre Arts
Monthly" has always taken great
interest in the backgrounds of his
race. He has 'chronicled the small
town Jew, and assembled large col
lection of Jewish folk art. At times
he has emulated in his work such
phases of his racial heritage as he
has found in synagogual decoration,
tombstone inscription, book illustra-
ton and work in metal. In his set
tings and costumes for I. l.. Perez
con the Confessional Chain" as pro-
duced by the Jewish Theatre of
White Russia, Ryback combines a
controlled use of folklore with a
modern Journalism. In his play, as in
"The Dybbuk," a student of sacred
lore passes his days brooding over
the subtleties of the Talmud in the
Synagogue. He is in love with and
loved by the daughter of the richest
Jew in town, but the grasping par
ents of the girl betroth her to a
weather. young man, reprimanding
the student for his boldness and
Furnishing him by putting him on the
confession chain in the synagogue.
The girl, broken-hearted by the turn
events have taken, browns herself.
AS adapted for the theatre this theme
is used to depict the struggle be-
tween the two worlds, the dying
world of the superstitious Chassidim
and capitalism, and the new world
of the poor but rising young pro1e-
tariats. Wavering between them is
the retrospective student, a sort of
Jewish Hamlet who hates the old
world and yet is unable to accept the
new one, and who is, therefore,
doomed to die with the old order.
Ryback's settings summarize in their
stylization the architecture of the
synagogue and the narrow walls of
the ghetto streets.
In the "Purim Play" as produced
at the Jewish State Theatre of
Ukraine, Ryback, with his strong in
terest nfolk art, has had chance
to apply this method of stylization to
his favorite material. The "Purim
Play" is true Jewish Commedia dell
Arte, dating back to about the six
teenth century. Though historically
and technically related to its Italian
forerunners, it has come to have a
folk flavor that is as explicit as the
Jewish speech itself. The perfor-
mances are given annually at the
festival of Purim to celebrate the
events set forth in "The Book of
Esther" A host of the most varied
types are assembled around Haman
the blackguard, Mordecai the emanci- |
pator, and the King and Queens. AS
the festival is secular, and encourages |
eating, drinking and merry making,
the carnival is sometimes carried to |
a point at which the jewellers are no
longer able to recognize the differ
ence between Cursed be Hannah" and |
Blessed be Mordecai" These per-
formances have been very popular
among the poorer classes.
In the stock personnages of the
play, the simple folk can pillory their
oppressors, the cruel kings and the
scheming emperors, cover the petty
local officials with derision, thumb
their noses at the "best society" and |
poke fun at their own racial foibles
At the present time, this festival, that
has laughed itself down the centuries,
is even more riotous than in the past |
and sparkles with sharp references
to current affairs of the new Russia.
Ryback, in his approach to this theme
tries to retain the spontaneity Of folk |
Improvisation by using the proper
ties that are closest at hand and sue
ceeds admirably in achieving his aim
NJ. Falk, who was one of the most
accomplished followers of Cezanne in
Russia, came to the theatre as a
mature artist. His activity in the
theatre however, has not been in line
with his earlier work. The change