Jamie Avital Rosen

Source: Museum of the City of New York digital collection

Translation:
“Yiddish Art Theatre
Maurice Swartz: Director
Are you already subscribed to Yiddish Art theatre?
If not, become that [subscribed] today!
See the announcement for details on page 16”

This is an advertisement in the Lipshtiz Press to subscribe to the Yiddish Art Theatre. The specific play that this piece is advertising is “The Bloody Laughter” (in Yiddish, “Der blutiker gelekhter”). The play opened on April 4, 1929 in New York. It was first published in German in 1923 by Ernst Toller, who was best known for his Expressionist plays. He served as President of the Bavarian Soviet Republic for 6 days, and was soon-after imprisoned for 5 years. During this time in jail, he became a “German left-wing playwright,” and produced numerous plays and poems during this period. His plays were presented in New York, London, and Berlin. They were translated to numerous languages, including English and Yiddish. Toller passed away in 1939, but his legacy of theatre and literature lives on forever through productions such as this Yiddish adaptation at the Yiddish Art Theatre.

The Yiddish Art Theatre was a Yiddish theatre organization that thrived during the 20th century. The company was founded by actor and producer Maurice Schwartz in 1918. He ventured to present various Yiddish drama and works from international literature in Yiddish. Toller’s The Bloody Laughter is one of these said pieces. The Yiddish Art Theatre was founded in 1918, and was originally located at the Irving Place Theatre in Union Square, Manhattan. One year later, the organization moved to the Garden Theatre at Madison Avenue and 27th street. They remained in this location for 6 years on and off. Renowned works were performed in Yiddish here, such as those by Leonid Andreyev, S. Ansky, Sholem Aleichem, Maxim Gorky, Gerhart Hauptmann, Peretz Hirschbein, David Pinski, Arthur Schnitzler, George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. The Garden Theatre was part of the second Madison Square Garden multiplex, and after the plan to demolish the complex was revealed, the Yiddish Art Theatre moved to the Nora Bayes Theater on West 44th Street in 1925. By 1926, the Yiddish Art Theatre finally built a theatre of its own: the Louis N. Jaffe Theater. This location served as a Moorish Revival theatre, and was built by “Brooklyn developer and prominent Jewish community leader, Louis Jaffe” in 1925. It was situated on Second Avenue, in the center of the Yiddish Theatre District, which was intentional in the construction planning process. Here, The Yiddish Art Theatre functioned successfully for 40 years, performing classics pieces in Yiddish; of Jewish, European, and English theatre, ranging from works by Sholem Aleichem to William Shakespeare.

Bibliography

https://collections.mcny.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=24UAYW5ZLVQ43&SMLS=1&RW=1073&RH=622

http://bookbase.com/bibliophile/only/wyman/search/result?submit=Open+Page&page=1&keyword=%22in+yiddish%22&dealerId=1367&currency=1&upStart=0&upEnd=9223372036854775807&length=300

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_Art_Theatre