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Yiddish Theatre

CTE photo
Mirele Efros, directed by Bryna Wasserman at the Yiddish Theatre, 1996

Theatre company founded in Montreal, Quebec , in 1956 by Dora Wasserman .

Wasserman worked closely with many of the writers who presented works at the company or whose works were adapted by Wasserman herself for the theatre, including Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer.

In 1967 the company was invited to come to the new Saidye Bronfman Centre and, with composer Eli Rubenstein, Wasserman presented a musical in the new home called A Shtetl Wedding (which has been revived since).

Under Wasserman, three generations of amateur actors have passed through the house presenting works that are accomplished and, now, are available to non-Yiddish-speaking theatregoers through simultaneous translation.

Some of the milestones of the company were productions of Fiddler on the Roof (for the first time in Yiddish, 1993) and a translation of Michel Tremblay 's Les Belles-soeurs (1992). In 1995, after Ms Wasserman suffered a stroke, her daughter Bryna took over the artistic directorship. Bryna Wasserman's 1997 production of Old Wicked Songs, was a highlight of the theatre season, and, a small drama, took the company in new directions from its populist roots. In September, 2000, the company's production of The Great Houdini won the Montreal English Critics Circle Award for best production, amateur or semi-professional.

The company is avidly supported by the Jewish population of Montreal.

Last updated 2009-09-15