HEIMISH BARD

from page 69

,Sluitie, in ii:w.tre

Featuring

Live Dinner Music

F :ne D

Dinner: Tuesday thru Thursday 5pm-10pm • Friday thru. Saturday 5pm-llpm
Sunday 4pm-9pm

Live Entertainment and Dancing

Until

By the early 1890s, Yiddish actors
were wild about Skakespeare.

2 am In Our Lower Level

(Formerly Nifty Normans)

248.669.2263

their "dramas of family conflict" to
which Yiddish audiences were espe-
cially drawn.
He scrutinizes individual produc-
tions, supplementing his thorough
documentation of the era with repro-
ductions of newspaper advertisements,
cartoons and theater marquees.
In particular, the author examines
five plays, each of which is the subject
of its own chapter: King Lear, Hamlet,
Othello, Romeo and Juliet and — of
course — The Merchant of Venice.
Perhaps the most accessible chapter
is "'A True Jewish Jew': A Shylock
Quartet" in which- the author traces
the various interpretations of The

Merchant of Venice.
"Since Shylock makes for such a
problematic Jewish role model,"
Berkowitz writes, "the major inter-
preters of Shylock on the American
Yiddish stages would seek various ways
to make the character more palatable,
from softening the character to radical-
ly cutting or even rewriting the play."
However, "by 1959, the greatest liv-
ing Yiddish interpreter of the charac-
ter, [Maurice Schwartz], refused to
play the role at all" because Hitler's
Final Solution "made the character
unbearably problematic."
Berkowitz concludes his detailed
analysis by beautifully coalescing the
book's most crucial ideas. Indeed, for
those readers without the time or the
inclination to read the highly specific
chapters, the introduction and the
conclusion read together provide a
valuable and thoroughly engaging
overture to this little-known chapter in
Jewish-American theatrical history. ❑

• Homemade Soups &
& Salads

• Coney Specials

• Greek Specialties

• Omelettes

• Daily Lunch &
Dinner Specials

• Homemade
Sandwiches

TOTAL
BILL

OFF
WITH THIS COUPON

With the purchase of 1st meal of equal or greater
value. With coupon. Dine-in only.

Not to be used with any other coupon -or specials.

Not to be used with any other coupon or specials.

Coupon Expires June 30, 2002

'

3 .e.t tete, a/La-I/tee,.

Please don't drink and drive_

OFF YOUR
SECOND MEAL

Coupon Expires June 30, 2002

SN

6/21

2002

71