Sunday Arts Magazine

14 Feb 2022

Yentl – Fairfax Theatre

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Opening at the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Fairfax Theatre in

March 2022, this entirely original stage adaptation of the iconic

and provocative short story Yentl, is the first since the 1975

Broadway play, and the first new adaptation since the pop culture

phenomenon that was Barbra Streisand’s 1983 musical film.

A new adaptation by Gary Abrahams, Elise Hearst,

Galit Klas and Evelyn Krape

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne

12 March — 26 March 2022

www.artscentremelbourne.com.au

Kadimah Yiddish Theatre presents

Based on the original Yiddish short story “Yentl“ by

Isaac Bashevis Singer

“This production is a very purposeful re-claiming of the

short story, taking it back to its darker, more dangerous

roots,” says co-creator and director Gary Abrahams,

whose recent credits include acclaimed productions of

33 Variations with US actor Ellyn Burstyn at the Comedy

Theatre, and Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s The Ghetto Cabaret

at fortyfivedownstairs. “Yentl is an incredibly transgressive

and irreverent story that was sanitized and made very PC by

the film. But Bashevis Singer’s story is so much stranger, so

much more unsettling, so much more rooted in a world full

of demons, dybbuks and ghosts.”

Set in a Polish shtetl in 1870, Yentl is the story of a young

woman who defies Jewish orthodox tradition by secretly

studying religious scripture, forbidden to females. When her

beloved father dies, Yentl runs away dressed in male guise,

determined to live as a man and continue her studies. She

meets Avigdor, a young Yeshiva boy, who – believing her to

be male – takes her under his wing where she convincingly

lives as the impressive male talmudic student, Anshl. But

when Avigdor introduces Anshl to the woman he loves,

Hodes, Anshl’s life takes a surprising and dangerous turn.

Soon, a fragile love triangle emerges when Yentl falls in love

with both Avigdor and Hodes, and Avigdor finds himself

attracted to the boy he believes is Anshl.

This bold and contemporary adaptation will be staged

both in English and Yiddish (with English surtitles translated

by internationally-renowned academic Professor Rivke

Margolis), continuing Kadimah’s mission to bring Yiddish

culture and language to a wide audience. This new

adaptation of Yentl leans into the work’s feminist themes,

examines its queer subtext, and explores its Yiddish roots

in surprising and unfamiliar ways. “There’s this wonderful

intersection between contemporary queer politics and oldworld

Yiddish culture,” says Abrahams. “It’s a story about

identity, and about the danger and bravery of creating one’s

identity when you have to fight against the status quo of the

world around you.”

Featuring emerging actor Jana Zvedeniuk as Yentl (whose

Russian/Israeli/Yiddish background made her an undeniable

choice for her first major role) alongside award-winning

actor Evelyn Krape (King Lear, The Ghetto Cabaret,

Female Parts), this stellar cast and creative team relish the

opportunity to explore Nobel Prize-winner, Bashevis Singer’s

story through a contemporary lens.

Yentl headlines a year-long calendar of events celebrating

Kadimah’s 110 years of continuous theatre, language and

cultural programs. Today, the Kadimah is Australia’s beating

heart of Yiddish culture, and home to the country’s largest

Yiddish library and archive. The Kadimah Yiddish Theatre, led

by Artistic Co-Directors Evelyn Krape and Galit Klas, presents

challenging and contemporary bilingual theatre.

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