{"id":2226,"date":"2014-10-26T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-26T15:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wyvern.ctl.columbia.edu\/?p=3"},"modified":"2021-08-03T08:22:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T08:22:53","slug":"dybbuk-possesses-stages-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishstudiescolumbia.com\/myny\/theater\/dybbuk-possesses-stages-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dybbuk in New York: Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Agi Legutko<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> in New York<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds<\/em>\u00a0by S. An-sky premiered in 1920 in Warsaw, Poland, and immediately possessed the stages worldwide. In 1921 The Dybbuk <\/em>had its New York premiere and since then has returned to the city at least twenty times. The posts listed below, created by Columbia University students and featured on the Mapping Yiddish New York website under the “Dybbuk in New York” category, document these returns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dybbuk<\/em> Arrives in New York: Maurice Schwartz’s Production in Yiddish Art Theater (1921)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dybbuk<\/em> in the Neighborhood Playhouse (1925)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> Comes to Broadway: Habimah’s Dybbuk<\/em> at the Mansfield Theater (1926)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puppets and Parody: The Dybbuk<\/em> (1926)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il Dybuk<\/em> Performance at the Carnegie Hall (1936)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Film Adaptation of The Dybbuk<\/em> in New York (1938)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds <\/em>(1948)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sokolow’s Dybbuk<\/em> (1951)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> Becomes Operatic (1951 & 1952)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk at the 4th Street Theater Produced by David Ross (1954)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Rest Nor Harbor<\/em>: The Dybbuk<\/em> and Modern Dance (1964 &1969)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> Ballet (1974)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pearl Lang’s The Possessed<\/em> (1975)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> at the Public Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival Production (1977)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Dybbuk<\/em> by Tony Kushner (1997)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warlikowski’s Adaptation of The Dybbuk<\/em> (2004)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analyzing The Dybbuk<\/em> Puppet Show (2004)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leibowitz’s Production of The Dybbuk<\/em> (2011)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queens College Production of The Dybbuk<\/em> (2012)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dybbuk<\/em> Possesses the Stages Worldwide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1. S. An-sky in 1910.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shloyme-Zanvl Rappoport a.k.a. S. An-sky (1863-1920) headed an ethnographic expedition in the years 1912-1914 in Volhynie and Podolie in Eastern Europe, which is said to have inspired his greatest work, The Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds<\/em> (1914).\u00a0An-sky tried to stage it for several years, in vain, and it was only at his funeral on November 9, 1920 that Yiddish theater director David Herman swore that the play would be staged “\u05e6\u05d5 \u05d3\u05d9 \u05e9\u05dc\u05d5\u05e9\u05d9\u05dd” tsu di shloshim<\/em>, 30 days after An-sky’s death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 2. Poster advertising Between Two Worlds: The Dybbuk<\/em> premiere in Warsaw in 1920.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Indeed,\u00a0Between Two Worlds: The Dybbuk – <\/em>as the play was originally called –<\/em>premiered at the Elizeum Theater in Warsaw on December 9, 1920, at the end of the thirty-day mourning period after An-sky\u2019s death.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 3. The Elizeum Theater at 18a Karowa Street in Warsaw, where The Dybbuk<\/em> was first performed by the Vilne Troupe, no longer exists. More about the building’s history can be found here.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Vilna Troupe (Vilner Trupe), established in 1915, was one of the four theater companies in Vilnius<\/a>, Lithuania. It eventually moved to Warsaw and then performed around the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 4. Vilna Troupe’s Dybbuk<\/em>, 1920\u00a0featuring Miriam Orleska as Leah, Noach Nachbush as the Messenger, and Alexander Stein.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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