The Dybbuk and Other Stories, Dances, Plays, and Games
January 10, 2023 2:48 PM Subscribe
On Oct. 3, 1960, the Play of the Week was The Dybbuk. Directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Fail Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, etc.), it was a TV adaptation of S. Ansky's play [PDF] (see "How it Transformed American Jewish Theatre") based on traditional themes (see "A Jewish Monsters and Magic Reading List"). It featured modern dance choreographed by Anna Sokolow, who adapted the play nine years earlier (see "Sokolow's Impact on Dance"). A 1937 Yiddish-language film adaptation is also notable. Other Play of the Week episodes included Medea, The World of Sholem Aleichem, The Iceman Cometh (dir. Sidney Lumet), Thérèse Raquin, and Waiting for Godot. Incidentally, related folklore merges with many fantasy sources in the CC-licensed "New School Revolution" RPG, Cairn by Yochai Gal.
I had seen the 1937 movie of The Dybbuk and various productions of the opera and ballet, but I wasn't familiar with the Play of the Week production! So glad to hear it's online.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:55 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:55 PM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Dybbuk, Schmybbuk, I Said 'More Ham.'"
(Sorry, great post, please carry on)
posted by mykescipark at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
(Sorry, great post, please carry on)
posted by mykescipark at 4:17 PM on January 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
Re Jewish Theater: My mother talks often about having seen a production of The Zulu and the Zayda in Baltimore when she was young. It's a musical about a Jewish grandfather (zayda) who moves to South Africa and hires a member of the Zulu tribe as a companion. They become friends, etc.
Given the demographics of Baltimore (which by some accounts contains the highest population density of Jews outside of Israel), the audience was about half Jewish and half Black. By my mother's account, many of the jokes were in Yiddish. So an actor would tell a joke, half the audience would laugh, and then the Jews would lean over to their Black neighbors and explain the jokes, and then the other half of the audience would laugh.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:23 AM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Given the demographics of Baltimore (which by some accounts contains the highest population density of Jews outside of Israel), the audience was about half Jewish and half Black. By my mother's account, many of the jokes were in Yiddish. So an actor would tell a joke, half the audience would laugh, and then the Jews would lean over to their Black neighbors and explain the jokes, and then the other half of the audience would laugh.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:23 AM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Regarding teleplays in general, a few years ago I happened across a 1959 teleplay of Ibsen's A Doll's House featuring Julie Harris and Christopher Plummer (pre-Sound of Music) as Nora and Torvald, as well as Hume Cronyn, Jason Robards, and Richard Thomas. It was very good.
I also have a strong memory as a kid of watching the teleplay of Steambath, a play in which random people wake up in a steam room and complain about the pettiness of existence, only to later discover that it's actually a portal to the afterlife and the Puerto Rican steambath attendant is actually God (sorry, spoilers). Although I imagine my interest was largely the result of the brief nude scene by Valerie Perrine (Superman's Miss Tessmacher).
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:35 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also have a strong memory as a kid of watching the teleplay of Steambath, a play in which random people wake up in a steam room and complain about the pettiness of existence, only to later discover that it's actually a portal to the afterlife and the Puerto Rican steambath attendant is actually God (sorry, spoilers). Although I imagine my interest was largely the result of the brief nude scene by Valerie Perrine (Superman's Miss Tessmacher).
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:35 AM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I watched the 1960 Dybbuk last night and was really impressed. I especially liked how they handled the supernatural elements with simple stagecraft.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:23 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:23 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by njohnson23 at 2:51 PM on January 10, 2023 [5 favorites]