The Mother of Yiddish Theatre: Memoirs of Ester-Rokhl Kaminska - Hardcover

by Mikhl Yashinsky (Editor), Elissa Bemporad (Editor), Alyssa Quint (Editor)

Originally appearing in the Warsaw daily Der Moment (1926-7), this intimate self-portrait by pioneering Yiddish actress Ester-Rokhl Kaminska (1870-1925) appears here for the first time in English. As it moves through her life, we see this towering artist and her art form emerge, observing how Kaminska navigates the perilous move from shtetl to city, stages illegal performances in unlikely venues around the Russian Empire, and eventually earns the exultant acclaim of her public. The memoirs richly disclose the texture of everyday life for working Jewish women and all the grit and hard-won glamour of backstage (or in her case, back-barn/barrack/barroom) life. An extensive introduction and notes by Mikhl Yashinsky provide historical context and an appraisal of Kaminska's epoch-making talent.

Author Biography

Mikhl Yashinsky was born in Detroit and lives in New York, where he works as a playwright, actor, and Yiddish scholar. His performance in the operetta The Sorceress brought a 'keen, if malevolent, psychology' to the title role (New York Times) and his Yiddish drama The Gospel According to Chaim 'jolted the repertoire with a work that is both traditional and delightfully subversive' (Forward). He is also the translator of Adventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes (2025).