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Following the Second World War, Yiddish theatre declined all over the world.
However, Yiddish theatre continued to exist in London on a smaller scale for
many years.
In 1947 the New Yiddish Theatre Company moved to Alexandra Theatre in Stoke
Newington. The two following years were among the most exciting periods for
Yiddish theatre in London, with visiting stars such as Leo Fuchs, who played
in 'The Galician Cowboy' to full houses for several weeks - in a theatre with
a capacity of over 2000.
By 1951, the only Yiddish theatre in London was the Grand Palais - one of the
few places in the world where there were regular seasons of Yiddish plays. There
were still a large number of elderly people, mostly living in the East End, who
were regular patrons. The artistic director Harry Ariel, who was also a talented
actor and playwright, displayed great ingenuity ensuring that the company had a
ready supply of new material, frequently reworking plays to suit the available
cast. The repertoire consisted mostly of musical comedies, but also the
classics of Gordin and Goldfaden and dramatisations of works by Sholom
Aleichem. The Grand Palais finally closed in 1970.
In 1987, a major exhibition on the history of Yiddish Theatre in London was
mounted by the Museum of the Jewish East End (now The Jewish Museum, London)
at the National Theatre in London. This was followed by a further exhibition
at The Jewish Museum in 1996. The associated publication Yiddish Theatre in
London by the exhibition curator David Mazower is available from the Museum,
as is Wandering Stars, a video-documentary on Yiddish theatre in London by Ruth
Shulamith Cohen.
By the 1990s, professional Yiddish theatre productions were few and far between.
But there remained a strong sense of fellowship among Yiddish actors wherever
they were. In Britain, two stars of the Yiddish theatre, Anna Tzelniker and
Bernard Mendelovitch, continued to be in demand as speakers and performers.
The former published a memoir of her family's life in the Yiddish theatre and
the latter taught Yiddish and ran a drama group. The focus shifted from
performances in Yiddish to cultural renewal, with an increasing interest
in Yiddish courses at universities and in Yiddish folk song and klezmer music.
In 2003 a Yiddish forum was established, in association with the Jewish Music
Institute, to promote an interest in Yiddish culture in Britain.
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