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MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY OF INSPIRATION, EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT!
SALUTING THE DORA WASSERMAN YIDDISH THEATRE!
Since 1958, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre has been dramatising the Jewish experience and sustaining the Yiddish theatre legacy at home in Montreal and on tour to 48 cities in North America, Israel and Europe. This Theatre has many reasons to celebrate. Its audiences keep growing, numbering in the thousands for each production, and young actors keep joining the large repertory company. Its plays – classics and original works, dramas and musicals – are critically acclaimed. Its archives record the treasures of the past while YAYA, its youth wing, remains vibrant and popular.
Over the course of 53 years, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre has presented over 85 different plays. It has built bridges to the French and English theatre communities through collaborative projects and received numerous awards. Dora, the company’s founder, was honoured with the Order of Canada, the Order of Quebec, and a Masque Award for Lifetime Achievement from her peers in the Quebec theatre community. The Yiddish Theatre was renamed in Dora’s honour in 2002. From 1996 to 2011 the company was led to new heights by Dora’s daughter, Bryna Wasserman who remains the Honorary Artistic Director.
In 2008 the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre marked its 50th anniversary with an unprecedented 9-day international festival. The Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival was the largest international gathering ever of Yiddish theatres from Poland, Romania, Israel, USA, Canada, France, Austria and Australia along with musicians, scholars and filmmakers. The 2nd edition of this Festival took place in June 2011 and was also an enormous success.
TODAY, THE GREAT TREASURES OF YIDDISH CULTURE THAT DORA WASSERMAN SOUGHT TO SUSTAIN OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO ARE BEING PASSED ON TO YET ANOTHER GENERATION.
For more information on the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre please visit: www.yiddishtheatre.org
Text by Edit Kuper -
On Second Avenue by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek co-directed by Bryna Wasserman and Audrey Finkelstein From June 10th to July 1st, 2012 This beloved production is a musical journey through the history of Yiddish theatre from its inception in Romania to its heyday in the 1940s. This beloved production is a revue of the history of Yiddish culture in song and dance following the Yiddish theatre's inception in Romania to its heyday in the 1940s. Featuring a huge cast and a live band! Acclaimed throughout Montreal, New York, Toronto and Vienna, On Second Avenue garnered a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Musical for its co-production with the National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene.
On Second Avenue
Presented by Reitmans Canada Limited
Click here to go to On second Avenue -
The Segal Centre is committed to building on the legacy of its Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre. Deeply rooted in the community and embracing an open and inclusive model, the DWYT is actively partnering with sister institutions, such as the Jewish Public Library and KlezKanada in its ambitious new programming, which is sure to please lovers of Yiddish language and culture of all ages. The Centre's DWYT is proud to announce a new series,
All-new year round programming
/ YIDDISH Series, featuring concerts of treasured music, folk song sing-a-longs, play readings, film screenings and much more.
2011-2012
