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From left to right: Allen Lewis Rickman, Yelena Shmulenson and Shake Baker. "Tevye Served Raw" is at the Playroom Theater until August 14th. | Photo by Jonathan Smith
BY TRAV S.D. | In the middle of this year of grim anniversaries of badbadinations, riots and conflicts, it's good to remember positive things that happened in 1968. For example, that year, the Broadway's original production "Fiddler on the Roof" was two-thirds of his record, the six-year run. Based on the Yiddish stories "Tevye the Dairyman" by Sholem Aleichem (Solomon Rabinovich, 1859-1916), "Fiddler" was not only an award-winning box office success – it was a revolutionary cultural event, the first popular pop cultural representation of the Jewish community of Eastern Europe as it existed before the Second World War
It seems strange to imagine an era (and so recent ) where theater producers were concerned that "Fiddler on the Roof" was "too Jewish" for the general public. For some contemporary producers, apparently, it is not Jewish enough! The Yiddish National Theater Folksbiene is currently presenting an entirely Yiddish version of the musical, translated from the English version by Shagra Friedman, and playing at the Jewish Heritage Museum until September 2. The Congress for Jewish Culture currently presents a production "Tevye Served Raw" at the Playroom Theater until August 14th.
"Tevye Served Raw" is the artistic creation of a trio: the husband-wife team of Allen Lewis Rickman and Yelena Shmulenson (better known as Yiddish – a couple speaking in the Prologue of the movie "A Serious Man" by the Coen brothers in 2009) and Shane Baker, who presents himself as "the most beloved episcopalian on the Yiddish scene today." All three act in the production, which consists of adaptations of the stories of Aleichem by Rickman and Baker, as well as a few scenes of Aleichem's theatrical dramatization of Tevye's stories. Some parts of the show include an English translation, others use supertites. Rickman directed the show, which, unlike Folksbiene's current production, is a showcase for Aleichem's original Yiddish voice.
"[The Public Theater’s] Joseph Papp called Yiddish the perfect language for the theater," Rickman said. "Our use of the word" raw "in the title means" unprocessed ". It's the organic, macrobiotic and sustainable version, "he joked. "Everyone in this production is a true Yiddish speaker.Yiddish is incredibly expressive and musical and only someone who really speaks can use it."
Although Baker is a nice guy who is Originally from Kansas, Rickman singled it out by saying, "Shane is perhaps the most common Yiddish speaker I've ever heard.He speaks the most idyllic and idiomatic Yiddish." Rickman's father was a native Yiddish speaker from Poland; Schulenson was born in Belarus and grew up in Ukraine.
From left to right: Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman and Yelena Shmulenson. | Photo by Jonathan Smith
Current production arose from Baker's appearances at Aleichem's yahrzeit, annual mourning ceremonies honoring the dead in the Jewish tradition. Aleichem asked for readings of his stories at this ceremony each year. Baker has been brought to interpret the tales for years in a row, and a play arose from this experience, with a view to presenting something by 2016, the 100th anniversary of the death of Aleichem. Versions of the show have been shown in Australia, Canada, Israel and Ukraine.
The plays range from hilarious comedy to the depths of tragedy – or, as advertised promises, "You'll laugh, you'll cry," a special gem, called "a mother-in-law's trash-talk" , describes the process by which Aleichem became a writer: He created an alphabet book based on the curses of his mother-in-law.Other sections, with titles like "Strange Jews on a Train" and "The Yiddish Sisyphus," remind us why Sholem Aleichem was known as "Mark Twain Jew."
But Realities Are Never Far
Aleichem and the People Who Wrote & # 39; Fiddler & # 39 wrote for two totally different audiences, "said Rickman. "The Shtetl's perspective is not the same as that of a Long Island housewife." Then Aleichem's original stories were whitewashed when they did the job. Musical comedy The ugliness and horror of pogroms have been hidden In reality, interfaith marriages have been banned in Russia A Jew should convert to Christianity You have not been allowed to convert to Judaism. "
Thus, tears flow between the laughter of the belly in this faithful homage to the greatest of Yiddish writers. And, although it is not a musical, there is a beautiful song, a lullaby sung by Schulenson, with lyrics of Aleichem. With very little imagination, one can imagine this high quality production, touring the back of a village-to-village trolley across the Pale of Settlement. It is not possible to be more authentic.
Sun., Mon. and Tuesdays at 7 pm, until August 14, at the Playroom Theater (151 W. 46th St., between Sixth & Seventh Aves.). For tickets ($ 38), visit TevyeServedRaw.com or call 800-838-3006 .
Allen Lewis Rickman. | Photo of Jonathan Smith
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