The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds Playbill

PL AYBILL THE DYBBUK, OR BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

THE DYBBUK, OR BETWEEN TWO WORLDS ANTON PIATIGORSKY BASED ON THE PLAY BY S. ANSKY }{

approximate running time: 2 hours 25 minutes. there will be one 20 min intermission

ARTIST NOTE: ANTON PIATIGORSKY

S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk is the greatest and most treasured play in the Yiddish Theatre repertoire. Somehow, magically, it manages to work as a satisfying love story – with plenty of Romeo and Juliet parallels – and a genuinely scary ghost story. It’s also packed full of rich, specific references to Ashkenazi Jewish folklore and Jewish mysticism. I’ve always loved the profound mythological aspects of Judaism, and I’ve also always loved – and strived to write – plays that are baroque and dense, that encourage you to think about them for days, that won’t let your mind or emotions go so easily. The Dybbuk brings together these two loves of mine.

It’s been a genuine thrill to adapt this new version for today’s audiences.

The community of Brinnitz, which we meet in this play, is a deeply traumatized one. Suffering centuries of anti-Semitism, pogroms, and willful exclusion from mainstream Europe, they’ve built their own self-contained world – the shetl world –

out of necessity and out of pride. Their small community is a complete universe; it lacks for nothing, but then it’s also a prison from which there is no escape.

How these noble but fearful citizens of Brinnitz understand and manage their trauma is one of the marvels of this intricate play. It’s been a pleasure and an honour to watch it come to life inside the extraordinary theatricality of Albert Schultz’s direction and design team, and with the brilliant acting of the Soulpepper Company. I hope you enjoy it.

ANTON PIATIGORSK Y, Adaptor

CREATIVE TEAM

THE DYBBUK, OR BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

CAS T

Colleen Allen Musician

Peter Fernandes Henekh, Various

Amy Matysio Various

Derek Boyes Rabbi Mendel, Various

Katherine Gauthier Bessye, Various

Colin Palangio Channon

Hailey Gillis Leah

Ron Pederson First Judge, Various

Gordon Hecht Various

Jordan Pettle Asher, Rabbi Shimshin, Various

Dan Chameroy Meyer, Nakhman, Second Judge Leah Cherniak Frayde Laura Condlln Blind Woman, Various Mikaela Davies Gittel, Various Caitlin Driscoll Various

John Jarvis Mikhl, Various Richard Lam Menashe, Various Diana Leblanc Channa-Esther, Various Diego Matamoros Messenger

Alex Poch-Goldin Sender Paolo Santalucia Various William Webster Rabbi Azriel, Various

Production

Anton Piatigorsky Adaptor Albert Schultz Director Lorenzo Savoini Set Designer Shannon Lea Doyle Costume Designer Bonnie Beecher Lighting Designer

Mike Ross with Richard Feren Composition Richard Feren with Mike Ross Sound Design Erin Brandenburg Assistant Director

Robert Harding Production Stage Manager Laurie Merredew Assistant Stage Manager Alice Barnett Apprentice Stage Manager

Kelly McEvenue Alexander Coach

SOULPEPPER PRODUC T ION

Jacqueline Robertson-Cull Head of Hair & Makeup

Natalie Swiercz Dresser

Stefan Dean Geoff  Hughes Cutters

Isaac Robinson Carpenter

Ilana Harendorf Barbara Nowakowski First Hand

cover illustration: the heads of state.

Greg Chambers Props Builder

Michael Baumgart Props Handling Paul Boddum Scenic Painter

BACKGROUND NOTES

Dybbuk: from the Hebrew meaning “to cling.” An evil spirit that impregnates a living person.

The journey of The Dybbuk to its status as a much-translated (and adapted) classic is as surprising as the life of its author.

Born Shloyme Zanvi ben Aaron Hacohen Rappoport, he changed his name often: Solomon Aronovitch, Semyon Akimovich, Solomon Rappoport, S. A. An-ski and finally, S. Ansky. With strong affiliations to both Russian and Jewish culture, Ansky had a rare capacity to give himself completely to constituencies and causes that others saw as mutually exclusive.

The Dybbuk was written between 1912 and 1919, bouncing around with its occasionally homeless writer, who performed readings of the play, making changes based on audience reaction. It was originally written in Yiddish, partially inspired by Ansky’s ethnographic work in the Ukraine, where exorcisms like the one in the play were regularly performed. A Russian translation was picked up for production in 1917 by the Moscow Art Theatre.

Famed director Konstantin Stanislavski was slated to direct but illness and the February Revolution intervened. In the ensuing political mayhem, Ansky fled to Poland. The play premiered there after his death in 1920.

The first of its many adaptations was done by poet Hayim Bialik. He translated it into Hebrew and combined the significantly different Yiddish and Russian versions, adding idiomatic Hebrew expressions and snatches of his own poetry. This was in keeping with Ansky’s original, Bialik said, which was “pieced together like a tailor who takes bits of clothing and rags and makes... a patchwork quilt.” Many direc-

tors and writers have created their own versions over the years, some drawn to its exploration of mystical passion and demonic possession, others to its intense romanticism, still others to its portrait of a passionately disobedient daughter.

We are so excited to have Anton Piatigorsky at Soulpepper as the latest of Ansky’s adaptors. Which aspects of this shapeshifting text will he embrace? You’re about to find out. We feel sure you will respond as one of Ansky’s audiences did a hundred years ago: “They sat there, entranced, not realizing how time was passing.”

Playwright Biography S. Ansky was born in 1863. His passions embraced politics, history, and culture.

He published novels, plays, poems, songs, and ethnographic studies in both Russian and Yiddish. His song Di Shvue (The Oath) became the anthem of the Jewish labour movement. He is best known for The Dybbuk, which is still frequently produced. He died in Poland in 1920.

Adaptor’s Biography Anton Piatigorsky’s plays have been produced across Canada, the United States and Australia. His libretto for the chamber opera Airline Icarus, composed by Brian Current, won the Italian Primo Fedora Award in 2011 and a Juno Award for Best Classical Composition in 2015. He lives in Toronto.

Background Notes by 2015 Soulpepper Resident Artist Paula Wing

THANK YOU FOR AT TENDING!

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Soulpepper is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper are represented by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

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The Dybbuk is produced by arrangement with The Talent House, 204A St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5R 2N5 416.960.9686 michael@talenthouse.ca This adaptation of The Dybbuk was commissioned by Soulpepper Theatre in 2008.