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Tuesday, May 02, 2017
'Indecent': A Play About A Yiddish Play That Was Ahead Of Its Time
NPR: When audience members start taking their seats to see Broadway's Indecent, the actors are already sitting at the back of the stage. Eventually, the lights go down and the performers begin a ghostly dance to klezmer music as bits of ash fall out of their overcoats.
1 comment:
Julian Goldman
said...
There is definitely a lot being talked about with this play, and the original play was definitely way ahead of its time. I’m curious how they balance telling the story of the original play and telling the story of the world the play existed in, and how that has changed. I think it is interesting that the play was received well in Yiddish but had huge backlash when translated to English. It makes sense, since language indicates culture and different cultures will have different perceptions of the play. Also, the aspect of how Yiddish is a dying language adds a whole layer of complexity to the story. My entire family spoke Yiddish if you go back to my great grandparents, yet none of my grandparents speak it other than a stray word here and there. I’d be really curious to see how it is all addressed. I’d also kind of like to see the original play performed (translated since I don’t speak Yiddish).
1 comment:
There is definitely a lot being talked about with this play, and the original play was definitely way ahead of its time. I’m curious how they balance telling the story of the original play and telling the story of the world the play existed in, and how that has changed. I think it is interesting that the play was received well in Yiddish but had huge backlash when translated to English. It makes sense, since language indicates culture and different cultures will have different perceptions of the play. Also, the aspect of how Yiddish is a dying language adds a whole layer of complexity to the story. My entire family spoke Yiddish if you go back to my great grandparents, yet none of my grandparents speak it other than a stray word here and there. I’d be really curious to see how it is all addressed. I’d also kind of like to see the original play performed (translated since I don’t speak Yiddish).
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