A brief history of the Jewish Theatre in Bucharest -
“From comedy to tragedy and to the Total Theatre”

The Jewish Theatre in Romania has a tradition dating back almost 130 years.
Documents testify to the fact that in 1876 in Iasi , Romania , in the famous “ Green Tree” garden , the artist and writer Avram Goldfaden , the father of the modern Jewish Theatre , laid the foundation of the first professional Jewish Theatre in the world , by giving some performances with his own company.

A few months later , Goldfaden moved with his theatre company to Bucharest .

Since then The Jewish Theatre has held a particular place in Romanian Theatre . The early days were difficult with precarious finances hindering the building of a permanent company and theatre base. But this obstacles did not stop the artistic development of the work and the company could count on the support of fellow artistes.

The great director and teacher Jacob Sternberg raised the artistic profile of the company in the early part of 20th century . In 1930 he created a studio theatre where modern trends in European theatre could be developed.

The fascist dictatorship years of World War II brought hard times . Jewish artists were not allowed to perform in their own language nor to appear in public . A group of them started The “ Barasheum “ Theatre in Bucharest where the performances were given in Romanian .

In 1948 The Bucharest State Jewish Theatre was created.

The repertoire followed a mix of traditional and modern theatre including Jewish , Romanian and international plays . The audience could admire on the Bucharest Jewish Theatre stage the acting of very gifted jewish actors as were, in former days , Sevilla Pastor, Dina Konig and Mauriciu Sekler , them Samuel Fisher , Manno Rippel and Seidy Gluck and now Leonie Waldman – Eliad, Rudy Rosenfeld, Maia Morgenstern , Roxana Guttman.

The actors’s versatility and the use of various means of expression are characteristic features of their work. By tradition, Jewish actors , play, dance and sing – and the actors of the Bucharest Jewish Theatre make no exception from this rule : they demonstrate all their astonishing capacity to pass offhandedly from drama to musical show , from comedy to tragedy.

This power of expression and permanent communication with the audience constitutes the expression and permanent communication with the audience constitutesthe main concern of the “total” theatre and is a main characteristic of the stage art of the Jewish Theatre in Bucharest .

Since 1948 the theatre has premiered more than 200 new works , offering its audience numerous Yiddish classics including Shalom Aleichem, I.L.Peretz , Mandele Moher Sforim and works by important Jewish playwrights such as S. Ansky, Jacob Gordin .

Classics from the world stage by Ibsen , Moliere , Balzac, Brecht, Lessing , Ibsen , Feuchtwanger, Durrenmatt and Max Frisch have been performed along with works by Romanian dramatists.

The Jewish Theatre of Bucharest has toured successfully to the USA, Canada , Israel, germany, Austria, Russia, Switzerland and France as well as prformed in numerous internationsl festivals . In 1991 , for instance , the Theatre performed in Vienna and participated to the International Festival in Krems , Austria ; in 1992 the company toured to Israel , Germany and Russia AND IN 1992 scored a great success by participating in the International Festival in Nitra , Slovakia .

In 1994 The Bucharest Jewish Theatre accomplished one of the longest tours in its entire history . For almost 60 days the actors performed successfully on 25 stages in various parts of Germany and Switzerland. Not to forget another acclaimed tour in Vienna in 1999.

A very important aspect of the activitiy of the Bucharest Jewish Theatre consists in initiating and organizing international workshops and festivals of great proportions . In 1991 and in 1996 our Jewish Theatre organized and participated in the first two editions of the International Festival of Yiddish Theatre in Bucharest.

The Bucharest Jewish Theatre presented in 2000 in Romania and abroad An die Musik , a performance by Pip Simmons , music by Chris Jordan after an original idea of Rudy Engelander being accomplished as a co-production with artistic institutions in various countries.

The Bucharest Jewish Theatre toured with this performance during 2000 to Nancy , Avignon, Salzburg, Zurich , London, Berlin, Copengahen , Rotterdam .

In its uninterrupted almost 135 years history , the last more than six decades as a State institution , The Jewish Theatre of Bucharest has developed a distinct profile and occupies a representative , unique position in Yiddish language contemporary art world.

Text offered by courtesy of Mr. Harry Eliad, the Director of the Bucharest Jewish Theatre.