The Blacksmith's Folly
by David Pinski
1997-1998 Season
Central Synagogue Auditorium
123 East 55th Street
New York, NY
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Hy Wolfe and Rachel
Botchan in "The Blacksmith's Folly"
Courtesy of YIVO.
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A review of the play
appeared in the New York Times on January 1, 1998:
Fickle Yankl the
Blacksmith Weds, but Is He Made of Iron?
by Lawrence Van Gelder
At
the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater, the vehicle creaks, but the ride
packs enjoyment.
The
company that bills itself as the nation's oldest
Yiddish-speaking theater is off and running in its eighty-second
year of continuous performances with "The Blacksmith's Folly," a
musical drama based on one of David Pinski's Yiddish classics,
"Yankl der Schmid" ("Yankl the Smith").
Playing until Jan. 18 and accompanied by simultaneous English
and Russian translations through earphones, this is a work that
poses a question -- can the leopard change his spots? --
can the leopard change his spots? -- and then proceeds to take
its sweet time delivering a predictable answer.
But
there is plenty of fun and pleasure along the way: neatly acted
characters who radiate soul, a journey into both old-time
theater and Ukraine of 1906, warm humor, concern for decency,
sprightly and sentimental music and lyrics and the singing of a
baritone named Alexander Gunko.
Mr.
Gunko, a graduate of the State Conservatory of Music in Odessa
in Ukraine, possesses a beautiful voice and the ability to imbue
a song with depths of feeling; although he plays a subsidiary
role, a character called The Stranger, this production wisely
uses him as much as possible.
All
these elements surround and grow out of the story of Yankl (Hy
Wolfe), the handsome, stalwart, skirt-chasing, hard-drinking
village smith.
The
object of desire of all the younger women in town, he falls
madly in love with the sweet Tamara (Rachel Botchan), the
pretty, orphaned niece of Frume (Zypora Spaisman). When Tamara
accepts the proposal he tenders through the local matchmaker,
Khaye Peshe (Mina Bern), Yankl says his love has transformed him
into a new man. He marries and becomes a seemingly fulfilled and
happy husband and father. But then, in a moment of weakness, he
is cornered at is blazing forge by the scheming seductress Rivke
(Ibi Kaufman), an ill-tempered woman who abused Rafoyl (I.W.
Firestone), her husband.
Will
Yankl revert to his old ways? Will Tamara pack up her little boy
and leave home? Will the hissable Rivke finally succeed in
provoking Rafoyl into giving her a divorce?
"The
Blacksmith's Folly" doesn't even get around to posing the
questions until the second act, after it has introduced the
villagers and given Ms. Bern and Ms. Spaisman, two stalwarts of
Yiddish theater, a chance to work their impishly mischievous
wiles on characters and audience alike.
No
matter. Under the direction of Daniel Banks, with a book adapted
by Michal Greenstein and music assembled by Zalmen Mlotek, "The
Blacksmith's Folly," like its protagonist, has the strength to
overcome its weakness. |
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The Cast of Characters: |
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Ibi Kaufman
(left), as Rivke, and Richard Carlow as Rafoyl.
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The action
takes place in a small village in the Ukraine, circa
1906
Scene 3: Reb Aron's House, The Next Day
Scene 4: Reb
Aron's House
Scene I:
Yankl's House, One Year Later
Scene 2:
Yankl's House, The Bris, One Month Later
Scene 3: Yankl's
Smithy, The Same Day
Scene 4: Yankl's
House, The Next Morning
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Mina
Bern (left) et al. |
Hy
Wolfe as Yankl, and Rachel Botchan as Tamara. |
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Scene I - Dvoyre's Tavern
Yankl, the Smith, arrives at the tavern
after a day's work. Rivke is waiting for him, and tries to avoid her
husband, Rafoyl. Khaye Peshe, the matchmaker arrives, and talks with Yankl
about setting up a match for him. At this moment Frume and Tamara, Reb
Aron's niece, appear through a window outside the tavern. Yankl and Tamara
see each other, and it is love at first sight.
Yankl commissions Khaye Peshe to make
the match for him with Tamara. He does not even require a dowry; he is so
smitten with her. Despite her better judgement, Khaye Peshe is moved by the
depth of Yankl's emotions, and agrees to talk to Tamara's aunt and uncle.
Entr'acte -- The Stranger sings a song
about a drunk, and the kind of life he leads, a life of love and pain.
Scene 3 - The next day, Shabbos, Reb
Aron's House
Frume is reading as Khaye Peshe lets
herself in, having found the front door open. She tells Frume that Yankl
wants to marry Tamara, and that he is waiting outside for an answer. Tamara
returns home, and Khaye and Frume tell Tamara that someone is interested in
her. They sing a song about matchmaking. They then tell Tamara her
suitor's name - Yankl, der Shmid. Tamara tells Khaye Peshe that she will
marry Yankl. Khaye Peshe exits to give Yankl the good news.
Reb Aron arrives home, and Frume tells
him about Tamara's engagement, but will not tell him the suitor's name until
after he makes Havdalah. They make Havdalah, and then Frume identifies
Tamara's intended as Yankl, der Shmid. Reb Aron strongly opposes the match,
but Tamara insists. She tells her aunt and uncle not to worry about the old
Yankl because she will make a new man out of him.
Scene 4 - Reb Aron's House
Khaye Peshe brings Yankl and his
father, Simkhe, to greet Tamara and her family. Yankl and Tamara are left
alone to talk while the others go into the next room. Yankl promises to
reform, and they sing a song about their love for each other. The others
come back in the room, and Rivke and Rafoyl arrive, having heard the news
earlier from Khaye Peshe. Rivke, jealous, asks Tamara if she will exchange
husbands -- Yankl for Rafoyl. She receives no answer, and storms out with
Rafoyl, chasing after her. The act ends with everyone toasting the new
bride and groom ... Mazl-tov!
Act 2
Scene 1 - Yankl and Tamara's House, One Year Later
Tamara is pregnant. We begin to see Yankl in a
new light. He is an adoring husband. As he is serving Tamara tea, Khaye
Peshe arrives with Simkhe. They come to tell the couple of the marriage
troubles that Rafoyl and Rivke are having. She has, in fact, hit him. Rivke
wants a divorce, and she wants to rent the empty room in Yankl and Tamara's
house. Just
at this moment, Rivke arrives, to the great consternation of all involved;
they are worried about Yankl being tempted by Rivke living under the same
roof. Tamara takes Rivke to see the room. While they are gone Simkhe and
Yankl quarrel. Yankl wants his family to have more faith in him. Simkhe
storms out, telling Yankl that as long as Rivke is in his home, he will
never set foot there again. Meanwhile, Rivke has approved of the room and
goes to get her things. Tamara returns, and she and Yankl fight. The seed of
doubt has been planted -- does Yankl know himself? Does Tamara really know
Yankl? Has he truly changed from his former self?
Rafoyl arrives, bruised by his fight with
Rivke. He does not want Rivke to stay with Yankl and Tamara either,
reminding them that she has always had her eye on Yankl. Yankl is enraged by
Rafoyl's insinuations and chases him out.
Then Reb Aron and Frume arrive, having closed
their shop in the middle of the day. They too are worried about the news.
Yankl was about to decide not to let Rivke stay, but because of everybody's
fears he decides to prove to them that he has truly change, and he berates
them for meddling. The scene ends with Rivke's arrival.
Scene 2 - One Month Later
Everybody celebrates the Bris of Yankl and
Tamara's son.
Entr'acte
The Stranger sings a melancholic song about life as a smith, his work, and
his quest for freedom and peace.
Scene 3 - Yankl's Smithy
Yankl goes to the smithy in his holiday
clothes, a little drunk. Rivke is waiting for him there, working. Yankl goes
into the next room to change, and Rafoyl arrives. he tries to win Rivke back
by offering her a string of pearls that one of his clients pawned but never
redeemed. She wants nothing to do with him and chases him away. Yankl comes
back with his work clothes on, drinking a bottle of whiskey. Things start to
heat up between Yankl and Rivke, despite Yankl's efforts to control himself.
She reels him in, pretending she does not see her effect on him. Finally
they kiss. Dvoyre, the innkeeper, and Leah, the seamstress, come in and they
all tease him, singing a song about "Other Girls." Frume and Rafoyl come in
as Yankl and Rivke are dancing. Frume kicks Rivke out of the smithy. Tamara
enters and takes Yankl home to sleep it off.
Scene 4 - Yankl's House, The Next Morning
Tamara calls Yankl in from the smithy for tea.
He enters reluctantly. Tamara is anxious to resolve the previous day's
troubles, and she asks for a morning kiss. But his kiss is cold. Yankl
leaves, and Tamara sings a sad lullaby to her child.
Frume enters. She tells Tamara that she just
saw Yankl leaving Dvoyre's Tavern. Frume talks about kicking Rivke out of
the house. Tamara is afraid that Yankl has slipped back into his old ways
and feels that if it had not been with Rivke, it would have been with
another woman. Tamara keeps saying that something must happen, something to
make Yankl come to his senses.
Simkhe arrives. Also he tries to convince
Tamara to throw Rivke out. There is a noise in the hall. Rivke enters,
followed by Rafoyl. She has found him sleeping on the oven in the hall, in
front of her room. He has been guarding her door to make sure Yankl doesn't
visit her. She chases him around the room before being chased out of the
room, herself, by Frume. Tamara kicks out Rafoyl. Simkhe and Frume exit.
Rivke comes back in and tells Tamara that
Yankl kissed her last night, and they should wait to see whom Yankl wants to
stay, and whom he wants to leave. Tamara tells Rivke that she should stay,
takes her child and starts out. Yankl enters and sees Tamara leaving. He
confronts Rivke about their conversation. He fears that he has lost Tamara
for good and orders Rivke to leave. Tamara enters and sees this. What she
was waiting for has happened.
Rafoyl comes back, sees Yankl rage at Rivke,
and takes her home with him.
Yankl and Tamara are now finally alone. He
declares his love for her and promises that through work he will be able to
keep temptation away. Voices call from the smithy -- a return to work, a
return to love. The whole company sings, rejoicing in the couple's re-found
love. A Glezele l'khayim -- To Life!
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Mina Bern, as
Khaye Peshe, the Matchmaker |
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