Description:

"Yiddish Theatre and the Argentinean Avant-Gardes" 

C. Tova Markenson, PhD Candidate in Northwestern's Interdisciplinary PhD in Theatre and Drama

Historians are most familiar with Argentine Yiddish theatre artists for infamously accepting funds from a notorious Jewish trafficking ring whose "low brow" preferences prevented Yiddish theatre repertoire from modernizing. However, a closer look at this history suggests otherwise. Through applying feminist historical methods to Yakov Botoshansky's 1926 production of Ibergus, this presentation illuminates Jewish immigrant theatre artists' contributions to the 1920s Argentinean avant-gardes.