Open Access

Ute Luise Simeon

• In his Yiddish autobiography “Fun Lublin biz Rige”, Riga: 1940, the actor Abraham Eines reported on his 30-year lasting career as an actor in Yiddish theatre companies in Eastern Europe and also on the period when he was an artist in the Yiddish theatre in Riga. The so called “Naier idisher teater” had been planned since 1913 and opened in 1927 on the initiative of Jakob Landau, Paul Minz and Lew Ginsberg. This thesis is based on Eines’ autobiography and researches in Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish archives and libraries. The aim was to reconstruct the history of this specialized Yiddish theatre, which fortunately is kept until today in the art nouveau quarter of Riga. The thesis deals with the history of this theatre, the plans which resulted in the construction of the building, people and organisations that were involved, its opening, playing schedules, companies and actors as well as the intercultural, economic and social environments and activities. In January 1927, the “Naier idisher teater” opened under the main direction of M. Karpinowitsch and the art direction of Abraham Morewski. It was financially supported by membership fees from the “Jewish Theatre Company”. New artists were often engaged by the “Warsaw Association of Artists”. In the following years, the art direction changed several times because of disagreements between the direction of the theatre and the company. Actors demanded more sophisticated plays and greater artistic licenses. The theatre had big economic problems. The repertoire of the theatre differed distinctly from that of the guest companies coming to Riga: the “Vilner Trupe”, staged Yiddish classics by Scholem Alejchem, Scholem Asch, Jacob Gordin, as well as by Oskar Wilde, Shakespeare and Moliere. Furthermore, Alexander Granovsky (GOSET) gave guest performances with his company of the Moscow theatre “Habima” in Riga. Besides “Habima” started its Europe tour in this Yiddish theatre Riga. Many artists were partly engaged for a long period in Riga`s “Naier idisher teater” and the theatre was well attended – on average 70 000 visitors per season. The theatre was equipped with 473 seats and 160 seats on balconies. It existed with different names until the occupation of Riga by the Germans. Today, the museum „Jews in Latvia“ (Muzejs Ebreji Latvijā) is located in the former theatre building. This is a not revised edition of the thesis.