Mikhl Yashinsky Archives - TheaterScene.net

Mikhl Yashinsky

The Gospel According to Chaim

December 29, 2023

There are few issues that raise the ire of the religious as a member changing religions. Apostate is the mildest term used for such a person. Mikhl Yashinsky’s "The Gospel According to Chaim" at Theater for the New City tells of such a person, the eponymous Chaim Einspruch, played with beatific authority by the author, himself. This is a true story and a rarity: a contemporary play written in Yiddish. (Supertitle translation is provided.) Chaim Einspruch wrote the first Yiddish translation of the New Testament, a shanda of the highest order since this acknowledges the existence of Jesus as “the Savior.” [more]

Amid Falling Walls (Tsvishn Falndike Vent)

November 27, 2023

Director Matthew “Motl” Didner manages to make what might have been just a well-staged concert of moving songs into a dramatic whole with a deep feeling for the ebb and flow of emotions from happiness to hopelessness. "Amid Falling Walls"—an apt title, unfortunately, still consequential in 2023—does come during a spike in anti-Semitism. Though an entertainment, the show provides ample historical evidence of blind prejudice. If only the message could register. [more]

The Sorceress (Di Kishefmakherin)

December 9, 2019

Goldfaden’s escapist musical fantasy combines bits and pieces from many sources: the Cinderella fairy tale; Gilbert-and-Sullivan-esque rapid-fire, tongue twister songs; old-fashioned (even in 1878!) melodrama; Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio; and—believe it or not—the Seventies’ TV sitcom, “Laverne and Shirley”! (The L & S reference, to be absolutely honest, might be an interjection improvised by the actor—yes actor—playing the title role.) [more]