|
|
|
Home : News : What's up in Europe ? |
Back |
|
|
Yiddish theatre’s revival in France By Caroline Rabourdin |
||||||
| Yiddish theatre is set to hit Paris this week when the comedy “Une goutte de schnaps” (a drop of schnapps) begins its showing at the Tambour Royal theatre. Written by Ida Gordon and presented by Jérémie Elfassy, the play takes place in a shtetl at the end of the 19th century. In this small Jewish village, men and women only worry about one subject: Schmouel. Indeed, the rabbi’s son has not yet managed to find a fiancée. Yenta, the matchmaker, therefore arrives in the village with a perfect young woman, ready to marry Schmouel. The fathers of the young couple agree that the wedding will be celebrated in the near future. His father just needs some hours, just enough to inform Schmouel. But the rabbi’s son is not prepared to accept that. For a while, he puts a question mark over the way of living of the shtetl’s inhabitants. Schmouel dreams to discover the world, to talk with people coming from various horizons, to discuss with persons living with another religious culture… Most of all, if Schmouel does not want to marry this perfect woman that is because he already met Mila. Shtetl life explored This Yiddish tale in French carries the audience into the shtetl universe, going through every theme dear to the Jewish culture. As in every Yiddish tale, there is a storyteller, the schnorrer, Chaïm, who plays the entire story long with the audience. Questions that Schmouel asks himself such as how to be a good Jew in modern society, are these of many Jews. Schmouel questions about his Jewish identity, not on his religious convictions but on the society he must live in. “Une goutte de schnaps” brings back the pre-war Yiddish culture when life was happy; full of stories, songs and of course plenty of humour. A tribute to tradition In the tradition of the Yiddish tale, this show tends to be a tribute to Yiddish music and theatre. In fact, this story expects itself to be as close to the Jewish theatre tradition of the end of the 19th century, as possible. Excessiveness is therefore the key word to describe this theatre. Situations are both serious and ludicrous and the audience is moved quickly from tragedy to laughter to tears. Yiddish music represents also an important part of the show. It accompanies heroes through every step of the story. The music also give a “more real” dimension of the shtetl. (2482)
|
 |
|
|||||
