The Mother of Yiddish Theatre - (Yiddish Voices) by Mikhl Yashinsky & Elissa Bemporad & Alyssa Quint (Hardcover)

About the Book

An historically contextualized English translation of the memoir of actor, impresario and 'Mother of the Yiddish Stage', Ester-Rokhl Kaminska (1870-1925).

Book Synopsis

Originally appearing in the Warsaw daily Der Moment (1926-7), this intimate self-portrait by pioneering Yiddish actress Ester-Rokhl Kaminska (1870-1925) appears here for the first time in English. As it moves through her life, we see this towering artist and her art form emerge, observing how Kaminska navigates the perilous move from shtetl to city, stages illegal performances in unlikely venues around the Russian Empire, and eventually earns the exultant acclaim of her public. The memoirs richly disclose the texture of everyday life for working Jewish women and all the grit and hard-won glamour of backstage (or in her case, back-barn/barrack/barroom) life. An extensive introduction and notes by Mikhl Yashinsky provide historical context and an appraisal of Kaminska's epoch-making talent.

Review Quotes

"This important memoir by the "mother of the Yiddish theatre" recounts her path from a sheltered shtetl upbringing to a life of high adventure in a touring Yiddish theatre troupe. Along the way, readers encounter fascinating details about Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and a compelling cast of characters." --Sonia Gollance, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, UCL, UK

"Never did I have to sing with an orchestra consisting of only a woman who played the French horn as she breastfed her baby. Nor did I ever have to wheel out manure from a stable before I invited audiences into it so that it could serve as a theatre. But I can certainly relate to the aspiration to act while coming from a family with another path in mind. She writes, 'If some mystery man had appeared before me, God knows who, I would have gladly married him, as long as it meant I would be allowed to go off and perform.' A woman with priorities, I thought, as I read her words in our fellow actor Mikhl Yashinsky's robust and lively translation." --from the preface by Tovah Feldshuh

About the Author

Mikhl Yashinsky was born in Detroit and lives in New York, where he works as a playwright, actor, and Yiddish scholar. His performance in the operetta The Sorceress brought a 'keen, if malevolent, psychology' to the title role (New York Times) and his Yiddish drama The Gospel According to Chaim 'jolted the repertoire with a work that is both traditional and delightfully subversive' (Forward). He is also the translator of Adventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes (2025).