Yentl

Oy vey, what a play! A delicious mix of mysticism, gender politics, lust, suspense, Yiddish, ancient Jewish lore and cross dressing. And yes, and there is some nudity.

Enough schmutz* to drag people away from the Hot Rabbi on Netflix.

Isaac Singer penned the short story Yentl the Yeshiva Boy – but hated Barba Streisand’s 1983 film adaptation. Streisand kept the core of the story about an orthodox Eastern-European Jewish woman, who dresses as a man so she can study Jewish scriptures, but shaped it as a vehicle for her own talent.

Singer penned his own large cast play adaptation, which was first performed in the 1970s. 50 years later the Melbourne based Kadimah Yiddish Theatre got permission from his estate to adapt the story for four actors.

Director and co-writers Gary Abrahams believes his version is more closely aligned with the writer’s original intentions that includes the influences of the kabbalah – a mystical interpretation of Jewish scripture.

Singer wrote all his plays in Yiddish, a dialect that is mixture of German and Hebrew, and the company shifts between the English and Yiddish with sub-titles.  There was even a feisty acknowledgement of country in that Eastern-European language.

The writing team managed to make the story come to life with a small cast with the introduction of a new character.

Evelyn Krape – Melbourne’s supreme charismatic Jewish actress – plays the role of The Figure – a ghost like narrator who fills in the story and spars with the Yentl like a court jester. The character is beautifully shaped to be like the incarnation of Singer – both rude and cheeky.

In the lead role Amy Hack takes the audience on the journey of Yentl, who transforms into the young scholar Anshl and immediately charms both sexes.

A fellow student Avigdor (Nicholas Jaquinot) is smitten by Anshl’s brains and androgynous sensibility. He battles carnal impulses and family trauma with great charisma.

There are several moments of great tension which feel like a modern debate about gender fluidity – which is intriguing given the time which the story is set.

The set is simple and beautiful - encompassing different settings ranging from a swimming hole, a bedroom to places of learning.

The projections of Hebrew onto the set (from lighting designer Rachel Burke) , authentic costumes (Dann Barber) and whimsical music (Max Lyandvert) add to the play’s charm.

Yentl won many awards at its Melbourne premier seasons and has earnt the honour of a good run at the Sydney Opera House.

David Spicer

Photographer: Jeff Busby

*schmutz is Yiddish for dirt