moscow state jewish theatre
increasingly disillusioned by soviet rule after moving to moscow in 1920, chagall left russiain 1922. before he did, he produced one of the high points of his career: the murals for the interior of the state jewish chamber theatre in moscow .
natan al’tman’s set design for le trouhadec by jules romain, moscow state yiddish theater, ca. 1920s. (yivo )
known in yiddish as melucha, and in russian as goset. this theatre was founded in leningrad in 1919 by alexander granovsky [ abraham ozark ] (1890–1937) as the jewish theatre studio for ...
set design by robert fal' k for mendele moykher - sforim' s kitser masoes binyomin hashlishi (the brief travels of benjamin iii), produced by aleksandr granovskii, moscow state yiddish theater, 1927. oil on canvas. (gdc 989. 313889; © federal state institution of culture
a. a. bakhrushin state central theatrical museum ,
moscow )
benjamin harshav, professor of comparative literature at yale university, has chaperoned and enhanced the growing interest in goset since his involvement in the 1992 guggenheim exhibition. prior to the exhibition, he conducted research in moscow and wrote an important essay on the chagall murals for its catalogue. his attractive new book, the moscow yiddish theatre: art on stage at the time of revolution, contributes handsomely to the literature on the now celebrated artistry of the moscow state yiddish theatre .
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one of nivinsky’s costume illustrations for the golem appears on the visually arresting cover of the book, though the book is devoted to yiddish, not hebrew, theatre. it is easy to understand harshav’s eagerness to reproduce all the gorgeous pictures included in the book, all of them from the bakhrushin theatre museum in moscow; yet, at times one has the impression of a child who won’t let go of any single piece of candy. true, harshav mentions the habima in his essay, and notes briefly that ‘jewish’ and ‘yiddish’ mean one and the same in russian, an argument that may explain his deliberately vague title ‘moscow yiddish theatre’ rather than ‘the moscow state yiddish theatre’ which was goset’s official title. this double meaning of ‘jewish’ is reminiscent of older people who, years ago, would say that someone sopke ‘jewish, ’ by which they meant ‘yiddish’. for today’s reader, however, this double meaning is anachronistic and confusing .
the moscow state yiddish theatre (moskver idisher melukhisher teater), usually referred to by its russian acronym, goset, was one of the crown jewels of modern jewish creativity. its story has the making of shakespearean drama: daring, uplifting and tragic. it is a tale of innovative artistry, personal talent, jewish commitment, political shenanigans, great hopes and broken promises which ends with assassination and institutional liquidation .
zrelishscha (entertainment), no. 89 (june 1924). the cover of this moscow journal features a montage by i. makhlis celebrating the goset (moscow state yiddish theater), with aleksandr granovskii as the locomotive that pulls the train and actor solomon mikhoels as the conductor atop the engine. (yivo )
this situation began to change sixteen years ago. in 1992, the guggenheim museum presented marc chagall and the jewish theatre, an exhibition that captivated new york, and later chicago, with a display of the large mural paintings chagall had prepared for goset’s first home in moscow. the fate of the murals was tied to the oblivion to which the soviet authorities had consigned the theatre: after its demise in 1950, the murals had been rolled up and left in storage in the state tretiakov gallery in moscow; goset was written out of theatre history. chagall himself did not know if his work had survived, and only in 1973, when he returned to the soviet union for the first time since 1922, did he reunite with the murals and apply his signature to the canvases .
with their dreamy, pale colours and detailed compositions these works act as a manifesto for chagall’s deliberately hybrid aesthetic, in which broad bands of colour plainly derived from suprematism are the backdrop – but only the backdrop – for resolutely non - abstract portraits of performers, artists and livestock. these monumental paintings packed with activity present chagall’s panoramic vision of the jewish theatre as the theatre of life .
during the second world war, mikhoels became a prominent jewish leader. he became involved in the jewish anti - fascist committee, travelled to the west and the united states and established contacts with jewish organizations outside the soviet union. he was to pay dearly for his involvement. on the night of 12 january 1948, mikhoels was murdered in minsk on direct orders from stalin, the murder camouflaged as a traffic accident. some 10, 000 people paid their respects when the body lay in state in the auditorium of goset. but the theatre was doomed and a year later it was liquidated. on 12 august 1952, actor benjamin zuskin, mikhoels’s right hand and friend, was executed with eleven other jewish soviet writers and intellectuals .
goset was established in 1920, when the petrograd - based jewish chamber theater, directed by aleksandr granovskii (1890–1937), was taken over by the people’s commissariat of enlightenment and relocated to moscow. situated in the center of moscow, goset emerged as one of the soviet union’s foremost theaters. its leading actors, solomon mikhoels (1890–1948) and veniamin zuskin (1899–1952), became national celebrities, and it employed many of the country’s major jewish playwrights, artists, and musicians. its yiddish theater school, established in 1929, trained new cadres of performers for both the moscow stage and yiddish theaters throughout the soviet union .
interest in goset was enhanced by en masse emigration of russian jews — including family members of the theatre’s leadership — to israel, america, and western europe, where they created disaporic communities that were greatly interested in their russian / soviet roots. in 2000, historian jeffrey veidlinger published the first english - language history of goset, taking advantage of archival materials that had become available since the fall of the soviet union. the saga of goset and its artists has also inspired jewish artistic works, notably an opera and a couple of stage plays. last but not least, a new exhibition, titled chagall and the artists of the russian jewish theatre, has recently opened at the jewish museum in new york and is attracting numerous visitors .
solomon mikhailovich mikhoels presiding over a reading at the moscow yiddish theater, ca. 1930s. photograph by d. sholomovich, press photoagency. (yivo )
mordechai altshuler, ed. , ha - teatron ha - yehudi bi - verit ha - mo‘atsot (jerusalem, 1996); béatrice picon - vallin, le théâtre juif soviétique pendant les années vingt (lausanne, switz. , 1973); jeffrey veidlinger, the moscow state yiddish theater: jewish culture on the soviet stage (bloomington, ind. , 2000); seth wolitz, “ shulamis and bar kokhba: renewed jewish role models in goldfaden and halkin, ” in yiddish theater: new approaches, ed. , joel berkowitz, pp. 87–104 (new york and oxford, 2003) .
one of the most famous and critically acclaimed yiddish - language theaters in the world. the moscow state yiddish theater (also referred to as mosgoset or simply goset, from [ moskovskii ] gosudarstvennyi evreiskii teatr) was, in the words of the yiddish literary critic and cultural activist nakhmen mayzel, “our greatest theatrical marvel. ” widely considered one of the best theaters in the soviet union, it was often heralded by the government as a model of jewish cultural achievement under communism .
the soviet postwar political climate was hostile to jewish culture and yiddish theater. official russian national chauvinism and the emergence of zhdanovism and the anticosmopolitan campaigns against soviet jews restricted the repertoire and frightened many potential audience members away. in january 1948, stalin unleashed a new wave of antisemitic violence with the assassination of mikhoels, under the guise of a truck accident. this was followed by the arrest of many of the theater’s leading writers and activists. zuskin, who had replaced mikhoels, was arrested in december 1948. throughout the following year numerous jewish institutions in the soviet union were shut down. the moscow state yiddish theater was closed in november 1949 .
the art critic abram efros, who had recently become the theatre’s artistic director, recruited the artist in november 1920 as a designer. for the first season’s opening night, chagall was asked to design the sets and costumes for three one - act plays by sholem aleichem. in addition to this, chagall decided to decorate the entire room in which the tiny theatre was located by painting a set of wall and ceiling murals on canvas, as well as a stage curtain. the wall panels introduction to the jewish theatre, music, dance, drama, literature, love on the stage and the wedding feast frieze survive, while the curtain and ceiling mural are lost. chagall’s frenetic month - long endeavour transformed the space into a totally immersive allegorical environment that was quickly nicknamed ‘chagall’s box’ .
the most celebrated period in the life of the theatre began with its move from st. petersburg to moscow, where it began to perform in january, 1921. there, in the capital, granovsky and his actors, well - trained in acrobatics, captivated the art world with an original and iconoclastic theatrical language that they applied to classical yiddish works, notably goldfaden’s operetta the witch, sholem aleichem’s 200, 000, i. l. peretz’s night in the old market and mendele moykher sforim’s the voyage of benjamin the third. shortly after the move to moscow, chagall became associated with goset. he decorated the theatre with his now famous murals, and applied his folksy modernism to the design of sets, costumes and make - up, influencing the aesthetic of goset productions and sharpening its acting style .
goset emerged in a period in which the soviet government actively fostered the development of yiddish language and culture, along with the cultures of other national minorities. during its first decade in power, the soviet government believed that it could best reach minorities by appealing to them in their native languages. goset thus functioned along with yiddish - language newspapers, schools, courts, and governmental organizations as part of a network of yiddish - language institutions intended to influence the jewish population. the ideological success and international reputation of the moscow state yiddish theater helped it survive the curtailment of yiddish cultural activity in the 1930s. the theater, which remained open until 1949, was one of the last surviving jewish institutions in the soviet union under stalin .
in his book, harshav focuses on the period up to 1928, setting the intellectual and artistic context for a deeper understanding of the theatre’s achievements at its most creative stage. the book consists of two main parts. the first part includes two essays by the author: ‘the yiddish art theatre’ and ‘chagall’s theatre murals’. the rest of the book includes translations from yiddish and russian of source materials, as well as translations of two skits by sholem aleichem produced by goset. the book includes a bibliography and two generous sections of beautifully produced colour plates. of these, the first is devoted to works by chagall and other designers who worked for goset, while the second offers a potpourri of set and costume illustrations and images, including those prepared by robert falk for granovsky’s production of the travels of benjamin the third, sketches by alexander tyshler for the 1935 production of king lear, designs prepared for the belorussian, ukranian and birobidjan state yiddish theatres, and five sketches by eugene nivinsky for habima’s 1925 hebrew - language production of the golem .
( at night at the old market). isaak rabichev, moscow, 1925. pen and india ink on paper. poster design for a goset production of the play by y. l. peretz. (hillel kazovsky )
the history of goset consists of a prologue, two main acts and an epilogue. founded in 1918 in st petersburg, its creative path was carved out by alexander granovsky, its artistic director, a brilliant regissueur who had studied with reinhardt in berlin and collaborated with maxim gorky and fedor chaliapin before fully devoting himself to the creation of a modernistic yiddish theatre. granovsky, a cerebral director, had no interest in illusionist literary theatre and was keen on developing a new theatrical vocabulary that synthesized text, rhythm, movement, sound and visual devices. this approach reflected the new spirit of the russian theatre. it was fascinated by machine - age contructivism and the notion of the crowd as hero, adored the carnivalesque and experimented with non - western theatrical practices. while stanislavski was revered as the grand old man of the russian stage, it was meyerhold and his system of biomechanics, which demanded rigorous acrobatic training for actors, that was fresh and appealing. when such modernistic practices merged with traditional jewish materials, the results were innovative and exciting .
during its lifetime (1918–50) and the decades following its brutal demise, the theatre has been the subject of several books of scholarly and semi - scholarly nature, as well as personal memoirs, written in yiddish, hebrew, russian, french and german. essays in english appeared every so often in specialized academic journals, yet in the absence of an english - language monograph, goset remained below the radar. two reasons for this relative obscurity appear to be the cultural tensions created by the cold war and the fact that the theatre never toured britain or the united states .
although the theater experienced artistic decline beginning in the early 1930s, this trend was halted in 1935 with its critically acclaimed production of shakespeare’s king lear, starring mikhoels and zuskin, and translated into yiddish by shmuel halkin. this production was widely regarded as the theater’s greatest moment. however, the lack of jewish content threatened to turn goset into a theater of translation with no direct connection to jewish culture .
goset began its 30 - year history with a series of performances that adapted works of popular yiddish writers into modernist theatrical frameworks. it made its moscow debut with a highly successful series of one - act plays by sholem aleichem, which were presented together under the title sholem aleykhem ovnt (an evening of sholem aleichem; 1921). the sets and theater decorations, designed by marc chagall, included the artist’s now famous mural vvedenie v evreiskii teatr (introduction to the jewish theater) .
the theatre’s creative chapter lasted until 1928, when the soviet authorities ended goset’s triumphant tour of central europe and granovsky decided to defect to the west. the company returned to moscow, where the government began to intervene in artistic matters, implementing a policy that would lead to the imposition of socialist realism as the officially required style. actor solomon mikhoels was appointed director. he was a phenomenal actor but not a great director. this, and the increasing stringency of policies governing the arts, caused goset to lose much of its original artistic edge, while mikhoels, a wise politician, immersed himself in navigating the murky waters of the stalinist regime. in 1934, after a few lacklustre years of forgettable productions, mikhoels stunned the theatre world with his breathtaking rendition of king lear, with benjamin zuskin, his perennial sidekick, in the role of the fool. it was mikhoels’s crowning role, marking him as a shakespearean interpreter of the first order. it is most fortunate that segments of his performance were recorded on film. to this day, the old and grainy images convey the power of an exceptional performance. the story behind this extraordinary production is uniquely russian: it was conceived by les kourbas (neé oleksander), the most important ukrainian theatre director of the twentieth century. kourbas, known as the ukranian meyerhold, knew yiddish, and mikhoels had been trying for years to get him to work with goset. he finally did so in 1933, but before completing his work was arrested as a counterrevolutionary and executed four years later (1937). the production was finished by the more conventional director sergei radlov, a party favorite, who was given full credit for the stage direction .
during the theater’s european tour in 1928, granovskii defected, leaving mikhoels as its new director. under pressure from the state, mikhoels reoriented the theater toward a repertoire of works by leading soviet writers on contemporary themes. dovid bergelson ’s der toyber (the deaf; 1930) and m. daniel ’s fir teg (four days; 1931) were both intended to teach audiences about revolutionary ardor and the ideological principles of soviet communism. although these plays were not popular favorites, they helped assure that the theater was on safe ideological ground .
regular summer tours through ukraine and belorussia kept the theater in contact with the large jewish populations of these regions. during the 1920s, goset became one of the soviet union’s leading avant - garde theaters and a prototype of yiddish art theaters. new york times reviewer c. hooper trask wrote of the production of masoes binyomin hashlishi: “it was one of the most originally conceived and beautifully executed evenings in the modern theater” (24 june 1928) .
i wish harshav had provided us with an explanation for his choice of source materials as well as a brief introduction to the excerpts he selected, the cumulative effect of which borders on hagiography. the same applies to the raison d’être of the two sholem aleichem skits. such authorial clarifications would give the book a more focused rationale. this being said, the author and the publisher must be praised for this sumptuous volume, which enhances our understanding and appreciation of a sterling example of jewish creativity at its very best .
the theater responded to the 1934 formula “national in form; socialist in content” with two adaptations by halkin of works by avrom goldfadn: shulamis (1937) and bar kokhba (1938). both were set in the land of israel during the roman era and portrayed jews as heroic warriors. although many of the overt religious motifs in goldfadn’s originals were removed, the plays retained distinctly national elements in line with the new soviet toleration of expressions of national pride among minority nations. during this period, the theater also achieved success with perets markish ’s birobidzhan epic, mishpokhe ovadis (family ovadis; 1937) and sholem aleichem’s tevye der milkhiker (tevye the dairyman; 1938). both productions, about the generational conflict within individual families, were intended to aid audiences in adjusting to postrevolutionary changes to the jewish community .
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over the next six years, the theater followed this success with adaptations of avrom goldfadn ’s di kishef - makherin (the witch; 1922), sholem aleichem’s tsvey hundert toyznt (two hundred thousand; 1923), y. l. peretz ’s bay nakht afn altn mark (night in the old marketplace; 1925), and mendele moykher - sforim ’s masoes binyomin hashlishi (travels of benjamin iii; 1927). these productions all interpreted prerevolutionary yiddish works within a social and ideological structure corresponding to soviet ideals. through symbolist and expressionist theatrical techniques, the theater emphasized themes of class struggle and antireligious rebellion .
after the nazi invasion of the ussr in june 1941, goset was evacuated to tashkent, where it added to its repertoire plays glorifying the soviet war effort. perets markish ’s an oyg far an oyg (an eye for an eye; 1942) and yekhezkl dobrushin ’s a vunderlekhe geshikhte (a marvelous history; 1944) presented a narrative of the war in accord with the soviet doctrine of the friendship of nations. the plays emphasized the cooperation between jews and other nationalities in defeating the fascist enemy. the theater celebrated the soviet victory with zalman shneer - okun’s freylekhs (joy; 1945), a wedding story about the renewal of life; it was awarded the stalin prize in 1946 .
rg 118, theater, yiddish, collection, 1890s - 1970s; rg 8, esther - rachel kaminska theater museum, collection, ca. 1900 - 1939 .
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the moscow state jewish theater ( russian : московский государственный еврейский театр ) , also known by its acronym goset ( госет ) , was a yiddish theater company established in 1919 and shut down in 1948 by the soviet authorities . it was founded by alexander granowsky as the jewish theater workshop , in st. petersburg , in 1919 . in 1920 , when granowsky 's theater was taken over by the people 's commissariat of enlightenment , it relocated to moscow , and became the moscow state jewish theater . it early on attracted solomon mikhoels , who eventually became the leading actor and , in 1928 , its director . the design of goset 's foyer , as well as decorations sets and costumes for its first production , were done by marc chagall . the theater 's repertoire included adaptations of sholom aleichem , such as tevye the milkman ( also adopted in the west as fiddler on the roof ) , and of avrom goldfaden , such as bar kokhba , as well as works by contemporary soviet yiddish writers , such as perets markish and dovid bergelson . the theater also performed william shakespeare 's king lear to great acclaim . many of the theater 's plays were ostensibly supportive of the soviet state , but closer readings suggest that they actually contained veiled critiques of stalin 's regime . in january 1948 , mikhoels was murdered by the mvd , and his death was made to look like a car accident . months later the theater was shut down , and the members of the jewish anti-fascist committee ( also headed by mikhoels ) were arrested . at least thirteen prominent soviet yiddish writers were executed on august 12 , 1952 in the event known as " the night of the murdered poets " ( " ночь казненных поэтов " ) . 
the moscow state jewish theater (russian: московский государственный еврейский театр), also known by its acronym goset (госет), was a yiddish theater company established in 1919 and shut down in 1948 by the soviet authorities. it was founded by alexander granowsky as the jewish theater workshop, in st. petersburg, in 1919. in 1920, when granowsky's theater was taken over by the people's commissariat of enlightenment, it relocated to moscow, and became the moscow state jewish theater. it early on attracted solomon mikhoels, who eventually became the leading actor and, in 1928, its director. the design of goset's foyer, as well as decorations sets and costumes for its first production, were done by marc chagall. the theater's repertoire included adaptations of sholom aleichem, such as tevye the milkman (also adopted in the west as fiddler on the roof), and of avrom goldfaden, such as bar kokhba, as well as works by contemporary soviet yiddish writers, such as perets markish and dovid bergelson. the theater also performed william shakespeare's king lear to great acclaim. many of the theater's plays were ostensibly supportive of the soviet state, but closer readings suggest that they actually contained veiled critiques of stalin's regime. in january 1948, mikhoels was murdered by the mvd, and his death was made to look like a car accident. months later the theater was shut down, and the members of the jewish anti-fascist committee (also headed by mikhoels) were arrested. at least thirteen prominent soviet yiddish writers were executed on august 12, 1952 in the event known as " the night of the murdered poets " (" ночь казненных поэтов ").
the moscow state jewish theater (russian: московский государственный еврейский театр), also known by its acronym goset (госет), was a yiddish theater company established in 1919 and shut down in 1948 by the soviet authorities. it was founded by alexander granowsky as the jewish theater workshop, in st. petersburg, in 1919. in 1920, when granowsky's theater was taken over by the people's commissariat of enlightenment, it relocated to moscow, and became the moscow state jewish theater. it early on attracted solomon mikhoels, who eventually became the leading actor and, in 1928, its director. the design of goset's foyer, as well as decorations sets and costumes for its first production, were done by marc chagall. the theater's repertoire included adaptations of sholom aleichem, such as tevye the milkman (also adopted in the west as fiddler on the roof), and of avrom goldfaden, such as bar kokhba, as well as works by contemporary soviet yiddish writers, such as perets markish and dovid bergelson. the theater also performed william shakespeare's king lear to great acclaim. many of the theater's plays were ostensibly supportive of the soviet state, but closer readings suggest that they actually contained veiled critiques of stalin's regime. in january 1948, mikhoels was murdered by the mvd, and his death was made to look like a car accident. months later the theater was shut down, and the members of the jewish anti-fascist committee (also headed by mikhoels) were arrested. at least thirteen prominent soviet yiddish writers were executed on august 12, 1952 in the event known as " the night of the murdered poets " (" ночь казненных поэтов ").