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*Migration Histories > Jewish > Culture and Festivals
* Heyday of the Yiddish theatre in London 
 
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The Straying Lamb
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From the programme for The Straying Lamb, a production at the Pavilion Theatre in 1911. J W Rosenthal, pictured here, was the theatre's proprietor.
* Moving Here catalogue reference (JML) 1988.68
The early decades of the 20th century were the heyday of Yiddish theatre in London, and the Pavilion Theatre in Whitechapel - on one of the main crossroads in the East End - became its main home.

According to David Mazower in his book Yiddish Theatre in London 'the Yiddish theatre of the early twentieth century was remarkable for the range of its repertoire, the versatility of its actors, and the enthusiasm of its audiences'. At the Pavilion, different plays might be performed every night to packed houses. The repertoire ranged from nostalgic recreations of life in Eastern Europe, through translations of Shakespeare, to romantic musical comedies.

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Advertising from a Pavilion Theatre programme.
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Advertising from a Pavilion Theatre programme.
* Moving Here catalogue reference (LMA) LCC/MIN/10/875/03
The audiences knew what they wanted, and showed lively appreciation of their favourite performers and plays. Frequent visits to the theatre offered an escape from the drudgery of everyday life. The visits were also social occasions: a chance to eat, to meet friends, and to enjoy shared cultural memories in this new, sometimes hostile, country.

Cyril Spector remembers his regular visits as a child in the late 1920s to the Pavilion Theatre with his family:

First there was the noise. Everyone talked incessantly, just the same as in the synagogue. Friends would meet and irrespective of the numbered seats, would sit together. This would evoke immediate protests and arguments when the legitimate seat holders arrived and claimed their rights.
These arguments were going on all over the auditorium. There was a large snack bar, unlicensed, where piles of rolls, sandwiches and bagels, filled with smoked salmon or cream cheese, were sold. Everybody was eating. We couldn't afford these goodies, but my mother would bring a huge picnic with her, and the three of us would eat solidly throughout the performance, as was everybody else.
The noise was devastating. People eating, muttering approval or disapproval of what was going on on the stage, and explaining to those who could not understand what was going on, or to those who were unable to follow the intricacies of the plot.
Everyone on stage overacted like mad. The audience loved it, and the more dramatic and hammy the performance, the more rapturous the applause that followed. The audience liked to be reminded of life in Eastern Europe, and nostalgia and sadness were the dominant themes.
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Creators: Carol Seigel

 
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