KADIMAH YIDDISH THEATRE
“It sounds better in Yiddish!”
Well, it always did to me, especially when my Bobbe was busy cursing the pharmacist.
Curses aside, Yiddish continues to inspire us. We are a group of writers, performers and directors creating new and exciting theatre in Yiddish, galvanised by our ancestors and generations of Yiddish auteurs. We khap two feygele with one stone. On the one hand, we keep Yiddish language and culture relevant, and on the other hand, we use Yiddish as a new prism through which to view and approach making theatre.
We are a grassroots, professional community theatre born of the Melbourne Jewish community. The Jewish community in Melbourne is mainly descended of holocaust survivors, who spoke and loved Yiddish. Can you love a language? We think you can. Yiddish is considered a warm doona, a comfort, a welcoming home to those who speak it. Warmly referred to as mameloshn, “mother tongue”. We make exciting new theatre. Our shows are original, Australian and Yiddish.
So, who are we?
Gary Abrahams is a graduate of The Victorian College of The Arts and has directed the Australian premieres and national tours of several commercial shows, as well as classic texts, contemporary plays, new Australian scripts, and devised projects. His work encompasses large scale commercial plays and musicals, mainstage works, independent shows and self-produced theatre projects. He also works as a dramaturg, script advisor, outside eye and mentor, as well as a playwright and freelance writer. He is a recipient of THE GRACE WILSON TRUST AWARD for writing, THE JIM MARKS SCHOLARSHIP for Artistic Practice and THE MIKE WALSH FELLOWSHIP for directing. He is also a GREENROOM AWARD WINNER and multiple nominee for his directing, playwriting and dramaturgy work.
His recent credits include the Australian premiere of 33 Variations starring academy award winning actor Ellen Burstyn at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre, and the Australian premieres of Buyer and Cellar and Admissions for The Melbourne Theatre Company. Other recent credits include The Comeuppance, Iphigenia in Splott, A Case For The Existence of God, POMONA for Red Stitch Actors Theatre. For his own company Dirty Pretty Theatre he has directed and written the plays The Lonely Wolf, Acts Of Deceit (Between Strangers In A Room), Something Natural but Very Childish, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and Therese Raquin.
His work for Kadimah Yiddish Theatre includes the multiple award winning Yentl, as well as The Ghetto Cabaret, Durkh A Modne Gloz and Scraps Of Heaven. He is developing multiple new projects for KYT and is committed to creating contemporary theatre that champions Yiddish language and culture, explores modern theatrical modalities, and encourages understanding, tolerance and inclusivity.
Evelyn Krape is Artistic Co-Director of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. She is an Australian acting icon, with more than 30 years’ experience in theatre, film and television and has won numerous awards and honours. Her acting credits include her Green Room Award-winning performance in A Toast To Melba, her one‑woman show Female Parts and performances for Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox, 11th Hour, Victoria Opera Company, the Malthouse and Shakespeare in the Park. Her television appearances include Australia You’re Standing In It, Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers and Laid. Film credits include Dimboola, The Sound of One Hand Clapping and the voice of “the Old Ewe” in the award-winning animated movies Babe 1 & 2.
In 2011 she toured internationally as part of the Yiddish group show Ek Velt. For KYT, she appeared in several cabarets, directed the 2019 productions Play Me A Poem at the National Theatre and the sold-out season of Yiddish Divas for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival at Chapel-Off-Chapel. She capped off 2019 with a Green Room Award Nomination for Best Artiste for her performance in KYT’s The Ghetto Cabaret (fortfivedownstairs) and shared the Best Actor Award at Tropfest. In 2021 she played the title role in King Lear for the Melbourne Shakespeare Company, narrated the new audiobook of Arnold Zable’s novel Scraps of Heaven and co-created its musical stage show. In 2022 she played Yeytser Ho’re / The Evil Inclination in the KYT’s critical acclaimed production of Yentl at the Arts Centre Melbourne.
Kadimah Yiddish Theatre Committee Members
Co-Chair: Lin Bender AM
Executive Director: Gary Abrahams
Artistic Director: Evelyn Krape
Members: Jill Smith AO, Troy Sussman, Rob Miller
Upcoming Events
Will I understand anything? I don’t speak Yiddish!
Our shows are for everyone, Yiddish speakers and English speakers alike. All shows are translated into English and can be enjoyed by all audiences.
And you might just pick up a few words, like shlep, shmooze, shmuck and bagel, that you didn’t even know were Yiddish.
