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*Migration Histories > Jewish > Culture and Festivals
* The War Years and After 
 
Surprisingly, Yiddish theatre in London enjoyed a new lease of life in the war years and immediately afterwards. Bolstered by performers who had escaped from Europe, and with a constant source of new material from dramatists like Abish Meisels, the Yiddish theatre helped to raise morale and provide escapist entertainment in wartime London.

Two new venues now flourished: the Jewish National Theatre, founded at Adler Hall by Fanny Waxman and Meier Tzelniker in 1936; and the Grand Palais, under the management of Mark Marcov and Etta Topel.

The most surprising wartime hit was a topical comedy, The King of Lampedusa. This was based on the true story of East End boy Sidney Cohen, a tailor's cutter from Clapton who had enlisted in the RAF. After he had made a forced landing on the tiny island of Lampedusa, just off the coast of Sicily, the entire Italian garrison had surrendered to him. Cohen's crew nicknamed him the King of Lampedusa.

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Even after the theatres and music halls had closed, the audience for Yiddish song could still enjoy gramophone records, like this one.
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Even after the theatres and music halls had closed, the audience for Yiddish song could still enjoy gramophone records, like this one. In more recent years, the growth of interest in world music has prompted a revival of enthusiasm for the *klezmer tradition.
The play based on his story ran at the Grand Palais for six months, with over two hundred performances making it the longest running Yiddish play in London.

Immediately after the war, there were two exciting seasons: at the Grand Palais and at the Alexandra Theatre in Stoke Newington, with big stars such as Leo Fuchs coming over from America.

Once again, however, the dwindling number of Yiddish speakers, the move of Jewish families away from the East End, and the attractions of other forms of entertainment all took their toll. The Grand Palais continued through the 1950s and 1960s, under the inspired management of Harry Ariel, but was finally forced to close its doors in 1970.

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Up for sale: the shell of the Pavilion Theatre in 1961.
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Up for sale: the shell of the Pavilion Theatre in 1961
* Moving Here catalogue reference (LMA) SC/PHL/02/1007/61/3328
A nostalgic visit to the Grand Palais by AB Levy in the 1950s gives some flavour of post-war Yiddish theatre:

Here is Commercial Road's Grand Palais, where the 'Yiddisher play' has been kept going through thick and thin. When the bombs fell, audience and actors made for the shelter below, and carried on when the all-clear sounded.
Suppose we enter the tiny vestibule; say hello to Mrs Isaacovitch, who, though approaching her 70th year, carries on the management begun by her late husband; and pass into the auditorium. The curtain is not up yet, but what an animated scene! Outvoicing the mere buzz of conversation that hums through other playhouses, this bilingual chatter is loud and excited.
Friends stand up to greet one another across two or three rows of intervening gossipers, or leave their seats for a more intimate shmooze. 'Well, well! What brings you here, Loretta? Slumming?' - 'Don't be silly, Daphne. I'd come a lot further than from Dollis Hill to see a Yiddisher play'.
Sadly though, as the years went by, there were fewer and fewer chances to see Yiddish plays. Some performers still carry on the tradition today, and there is a renewed interest in Yiddish culture, but the great days of Yiddish theatre in London are long gone.

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Creators: Carol Seigel

 
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