Fiddler: A Musical!
Project Description
“Fiddler on the Roof” – also known as “Anatevka” in Germany – is a world-famous musical based on Sholem Aleichem’s stories about life in the shtetl in the early 20th century. The network of international artists affiliated with the Israeli director Ariel Efraim Ashbel uses these popular Yiddish tales and their diverse screen and stage adaptations as the starting point for a study on Jewish culture and contemporary Jewish life in Europe. The project specifically focusses on the observation that Jewish life is under-represented in European society and theatre. The artistic strategy applied by Ashbel and friends is one that not only aims to subversively convey Jewish culture and spark discussion, but also to reflect on contemporary lines of discourse with the aid of Jewish knowledge and Jewish practice.
Inspired by American show business and experimental performance art, the artistic team is developing a large-scale theatre production based on the Broadway hit “Fiddler on the Roof”. Tying in elements of vaudeville, visual arts, pop culture and history, Ashbel and friends explore and celebrate the life of Jewish people in Europe and Germany today without irony, but with plenty of humour. Like a collage, the production presents source materials, photos, references, theories and various forms of knowledge which defy the logic of linear narrative.
This major genre-busting theatre spectacle will be accompanied by performative discussion events which correspond to the Jewish calendar and Jewish rituals. Lectures, work-in-progress shows and interviews with Jewish community representatives will introduce audiences to Jewish life in Europe and invite the public to engage in dialogue.
Artistic director: Ariel Efraim Ashbel
Musical director: Ethan Braun
Choreography: Jen Rosenblit
Set design: Alona Rodeh
By and with: Efrat Aviv, Jessica Gadani, Cassie Augusta Jorgensen, Mmakgosi Kgabi, Ruth Rosenfeld, Tamara Saphir, Tatiana Saphir, Sarah Thom
Guest performance: Isabel Lewis, Peaches, Tucké Royale
Orchestra: Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop
Performances: HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin: 14–17 Dec. 2023; Kampnagel, Hamburg: 12–14 Jan. 2024; Freies Forum Theater, Düsseldorf: 27 Jul. 2024; Gessnerhalle, Zürich: 27 Jul. 2024; workshop, Providence: Brown University: 27 Jul. 2024