- HomeHome
- New York's Yiddish Theater New York's Yiddish Theater
- Poland's Yiddish TheaterPoland's Yiddish Theater
- The Dybbuk and the Theater Museum The Dybbuk and the Theater Museum
- Visionaries of Poland's Yiddish Avant-GardeVisionaries of Poland's Yiddish Avant-Garde
- Literary Theater Troupes/Miniature TheaterLiterary Theater Troupes/Miniature Theater
- Yiddish Plays on Poland's Avant-Garde StageYiddish Plays on Poland's Avant-Garde Stage
- Translations and AdaptationsTranslations and Adaptations
- THE ERK Yiddish Theater Museum ( Warsaw 1926)THE ERK Yiddish Theater Museum ( Warsaw 1926)
- TimelineTimeline
- AboutAbout
Title
Three acts or four: the publication of The Dybbuk in Yiddish
Description
The Dybbuk was published for the first time in 1920 after the playwright's death. Edited by the photographer Alter Kacyzne, himself a writer and playwright, it was included in a multi-volume edition, The Collected Works of S. Y. An-ski. An-ski entrusted Kacyzne to publish his work as well as to complete his mentor's play Day and Night. Before his death, An-ski had completed the composition of The Dybbuk in manuscript as a four-act play.
Curiously, the Vilna Troupe, the first to perform the play, performed it in three acts instead of four. Kacyzne showed the manuscript to Vilna Troupe actor Avrom Morevski and complained to him that the Troupe's director David Herman had urged him to publish the play according to his three-act interpretation. Morevski writes in his memoirs about this episode: At that moment I lay my right hand on the table and said to Alter: "Let my right hand lose its cunning should I step onto the stage of a three-act Dybbuk."
Theater programs from this period demonstrate that the play was often played "according to David Herman's direction" which meant, in part, that it would play as a three-act play, as other programs reflect Morevski's 4-act interpretation.
This is the only known surviving fragment of an original Yiddish manuscript of The Dybbuk.
Curiously, the Vilna Troupe, the first to perform the play, performed it in three acts instead of four. Kacyzne showed the manuscript to Vilna Troupe actor Avrom Morevski and complained to him that the Troupe's director David Herman had urged him to publish the play according to his three-act interpretation. Morevski writes in his memoirs about this episode: At that moment I lay my right hand on the table and said to Alter: "Let my right hand lose its cunning should I step onto the stage of a three-act Dybbuk."
Theater programs from this period demonstrate that the play was often played "according to David Herman's direction" which meant, in part, that it would play as a three-act play, as other programs reflect Morevski's 4-act interpretation.
This is the only known surviving fragment of an original Yiddish manuscript of The Dybbuk.
Rights
YIVO owns the compilation of content that is posted on this website, which consists of text, images, and/or audio, and video. However, YIVO does not necessarily own each component of the compilation. Some content is in the public domain and some content is protected by third party rights. It is the user's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in YIVO websites.
The materials on this web site may be used for personal, research and educational purposes only. Publication (including posting on the Internet and online exhibitions) or any other use without prior authorization is prohibited. Please visit https://www.yivo.org/Rights-Reproductions for more information about use of materials from this website.
YIVO has employed due diligence in seeking to identify copyright holders of the materials in this compilation. We invite any copyright owners who are not properly identified to contact us at yivomail@yivo.cjh.org.
Citation
“Three acts or four: the publication of The Dybbuk in Yiddish ,” YIVO Online Exhibitions, accessed March 23, 2023, https://ataleoftwomuseums.yivo.org/items/show/2945.