BrightestYoungThings: PLAY DC: Laughter Through Tears

The life and legacy of Yiddish writer and advocate Sholom Aleichem is celebrated in Theatre J’s production, Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears. The one-man play chronicling the life of the “Jewish Mark Twain” was both written and performed by Theodore Bikel, the two-time Tony Award nominee and current heavy-weight champion of playing Tevye of The Fiddler on the Roof (over 2,094 performances).

Sholom Aleichem: Laughter Through Tears proves to be an elegiac, yet heartwarming homage to a man whose writings were a source of strength, inspiration and humor to people of both America and Eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century- a time when pogroms, oppressive edicts and anti-Semitism ravished Jewish communities and threatened their cultural survival.

Sholom Aleichem, born Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich, chose a pseudonym that is also a common greeting, meaning “Peace be with you.” He thinks this makes his books more attractive on shelves. “More attractive than Sholom Rabinovich,” he jokes. As a young man, when he first started out in business, Sholom knew he wouldn’t make it long. To businesspeople, the “success of a deal meant life or death.” To him, it was a source of humor.

As a child, the writer had a dear friend, Schmulig, who was orphaned and adopted by an elder rabbi in the town. Schmulig was a dreamer, storyteller and poet, someone who introduced the young writer’s mind to the power of imagination, the power of words. When Schmulig abruptly disappeared after his foster rabbi’s death, Sholom was crushed. “Every Jew is on a journey from Jerusalem to Jerusalem. I was on a journey from Schmulig to Schmulig.” To deal with his loss, he decides to emulate Schmulig. A writer is born…

Illness and war move him between Odessa, Kiev, New York and Geneva. But he confesses, “Home is on the page for a writer.” He finds it surprising that he wants to be buried in the States, after coming to terms with the false hope and crippling poverty that plagues Jews in America, even still. But here, the Arts thrive. Yiddish newspapers abound. And there are theaters that show Shakespeare in Yiddish before they get to Broadway…

The preservation of the Yiddish language was a driving force in his life. Aleichem observed its decay in common vernacular and found its anglicized form heartbreaking. This endemic sadness is foreboded earlier in his childhood and reflected in song. A verse relates that “Each letter tells of Jewish sorrow/Of tears of pain and fear.” Aleichem writes short stories that inspire the musical, The Fiddler on the Roof. Note to reader: This part has the potential to get very confusing. After all, this is a play written by an actor whose playing the part of the author who wrote the stories that inspired a musical which involve a character into which the playwright-actor regularly transforms, or has at least 2,094 times previously. And naturally, Tevye appears.

The speed quickens. But a return to astute observations and musings on American life as an outsider/insider resurface and Aleichem writes, tongue-in-cheek, about American funerals: There are three classes, you see? The first class funeral is a thousand dollars. The weather is very nice. There are horses, carriages, men in brass-buttoned suits, and all the children from the school sing from the psalms. The second class funeral is five hundred dollars. The weather is not too good. There are a few horses, no brass-buttoned suits, and the kids only sing for ten minutes. The third class funeral is one hundred dollars. The weather is cold and drizzly. Everyone is in a hurry. There are no horses, no carriages, and the kids recite something, but no singing.

“In America, to be born without money is unfortunate. To die without money is a calamity. A thousand dollar funeral. Now, that’s living!” This humorous spirit pervades the writer’s work. In his will he insisted that, “my name be recalled with laughter, or not at all.” Interestingly, when introduced to Mark Twain later in life, he noted that he’d been called the “Jewish Mark Twain,” only to have Twain retort, “No, I’m the American Sholom Aleichem.”

Is it possible to steal the show from yourself? OK? Umm, Bikel totally did that. Somebody alert the authorities. I cannot imagine anyone occupying this role as honestly or impressively. The pain that underlies the complex life of a writer whose work has touched the lives of so many- particularly the actor himself- and made so many laugh when face of loss and despair, is elegantly transposed to stage in this production. It was a heartfelt and personal tribute from one writer to another.

Seamless in its execution, the play’s soundscape remained subtle, but evocative. Grammy Award-nominated Tamara Brooks (musical director) plays piano and internationally-renowned Bosnian accordionist Merima Kljuco plays, well, the accordion. Bikel sings a rich catalog of Yiddish songs, occasionally, in English, with incredible bravado and poise.

What is the word? Oh yes, scrumptrulescent.

Playing now through January 11, 2009 at Theater J.
details here

Brightest Young Things

Live DC

PLAY DC: Laughter Through Tears

FRIDAY 2/24

Attack Attack! w/ The Ghost Inside • Sleeping with Sirens • Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! @ 9:30 Club

Previously in Live DC:

COMMENTS (0)

Comment

About this Article

Author

Cynthia!