Sholem Aleichem remembered on SA stage

BRIAN JOSSELOWITZ

Pictured: Shane Baker.

Baker grew up in Kansas City and has a BA in English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and an MA in Germanic Studies from the University of Texas, Austin.

“I believe there are a large number of gentiles in the Kaminska Yiddish Theatre in Warsaw, as well as the Romanian State Jewish Theatre in Bucharest. In New York I have worked in shows where other gentiles are cast, although they learn their lines phonetically and don’t speak the language; this is also unfortunately true of too many Jewish actors as well,” Baker said. “And in academia, there are countless non-Jews working in the field of Yiddish, Baker said.

 Women respectively. Sharing the stage will be Caely-Jo Levy from Cape Town.

Baker grew up in Kansas City and has a BA in English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and an MA in Germanic Studies from the University of Texas, Austin.

“I believe there are a large number of gentiles in the Kaminska Yiddish Theatre in Warsaw, as well as the Romanian State Jewish Theatre in Bucharest. In New York I have worked in shows where other gentiles are cast, although they learn their lines phonetically and don’t speak the language; this is also unfortunately true of too many Jewish actors as well,” Baker said. “And in academia, there are countless non-Jews working in the field of Yiddish, Baker said.

“Yiddish is a world language spoken on every continent and its rich traditions have influenced many aspects of mainstream culture, from humour to high art.

“In America, we used to have a bread called Levy’s Rye with a slogan: ‘You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy’s’, and the same is true of Yiddish theatre: it’s got vitamins you can’t get anywhere else.

“When I came to New York I started studying Yiddish. I saw my first Yiddish play (Mirele Efros), I fell in love with my first Yiddish actress and had good teachers.”

Mentors and friends included Mina Bern, a star of the Yiddish theatre in Interwar Poland, Israel, and on Second Avenue; the other was Luba Kadison Buloff, the last surviving member of the renowned Vilner Troupe.

 “Luba and Mina were my Yidishe mamas. For a year, I spent several nights a week with one or the other, eating chicken soup and speaking Yiddish. They provided me with my earliest education in the culture and they gave me what I am told is quite nice Yiddish diction.

“The earliest works I studied with them were monologues and scenes by Sholem Aleichem, who’s more difficult to grasp than you might think the most popular Yiddish writer of all time would be. 

“His language is rich and musical and incredibly fun to speak, but all that disappears like morning dew in the harsh light of translation. It’s really best delivered in the original.”

Levy is excited to share the stage with Baker. “I’ve watched his YouTube clips and I think it’s wonderful what he’s doing for Yiddish.” 

When Levy was invited to sing at the Cape Town Yiddish Song Festival, she noticed there was no-one her age in the audience. “Since then I have felt a deep need and a sense of responsibility as a young Jewish artist to help conserve these songs and share some of the history and culture that goes with this exquisite language, with my generation.”

* Welcome to the World of Fiddler on the Roof: a celebration of the Wit & Wisdom of Sholem Aleichem in Word and Song will be staged at the SABC Auditorium, Sea Point, on August 28. Tickets are available at www.quicket.co.za or phone (021) 434-9691. To book at the Theatre on the Square in Sandton for the September 4 shows, call Bev on (011) 6452591 or 082-574-4770 or Lynne on 083-378-1114. There will be two shows at each venue.