Shakespeare and Polish-Jewish Relations: The Reception of Shakespeare’s Dramas in the Yiddish Theater in Poland

• Books & Literature
• Global Affairs
• Performing Arts

Presenter: Agatha Dabrowska, Adjunct Professor, Department of British and Commonwealth Studies, University of Lodz

Moderator: Edna Nahshon, Professor of Hebrew and Theater, Jewish Theological Seminary

Dr. Agatha Dabrowska received her doctorate in International Relations and Culture at the University of Lodz. She is currently Adjunct Professor at the University of Lodz in the Department of British and Commonwealth Studies and teaches Jewish theater and history. Dr. Dabrowska will trace the development of Shakespeare in the Yiddish theater in Poland from the 19th century to the post World War II period. Dr. Dabrowska will also discuss the reception of Shakespearean dramas in Yiddish against the context of Polish Jewish relations.

Dr. Edna Nahshon is Professor of Hebrew and Theater at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is a senior associate of Oxford University’s Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and the recipient of various prestigious awards. Her books include Yiddish Proletarian Theatre: The Art and Politics of the Artef, 1925-1940; From the Ghetto to the Melting Pot: Israel Zangwill’s Jewish Plays and the recently published Jews and Theater in an Intercultural Context. She is currently preparing for publication (with Professor Michael Shapiro) a book on Jewish responses to The Merchant of Venice, to be published by Cambridge University Press.

Inaugurated in 2008 thanks to a major gift from the family of Ruth Gay , the Ruth Gay Seminar in Jewish Studies takes place several times a year at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Established in honor of Ruth Gay (1922-2006), the noted American Jewish historian and writer, the seminar series is given by scholars who have used the resources of the YIVO Archives and who wish to share their research with the public.

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