"One Life For Another"
("A lebn far a lebn")
by Peretz Hirschbein
1920-1921 season
A Drama in Three Acts
Directed by Mark Arnstein
Place: A Ukrainian Village.
Time: One Day After Passover
Act One: Ysroel's Home.
Act Two: Midsummer, Outside the
house.
Act Three: Some months later.
Ysroel's Home.
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Ysroel Noah |
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Joseph Schoengold |
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Pearl, his wife |
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Henrietta Schnitzer |
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Bassa Faiga, his mother |
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Anna Appel |
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Bluma, his niece |
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Rose Silbert |
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Tevyeh, his partner |
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Jechiel Goldsmith |
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The Rabbi |
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Rudolph Schildkraut |
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Lazar, a help |
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Anatol Winogradoff |
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Osher, a grain merchant |
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Hyman Meisel |
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Gershon, a grain merchant |
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Max Skulnik |
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Esther, a neighbor |
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Liza Varon |
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A Passing Wedding Party |
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The Groom |
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Lazar Freed |
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The Grandmother |
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Bina Abramowitz |
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A Farmer |
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Louis Weisberg |
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A Relative |
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Jacob Katzman |
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Another Relative |
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Sam Pecker |
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A Woman |
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Annie Shapiro |
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Another Woman |
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Clara Langsner |
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Third Woman |
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Liza Goldberg |
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A Girl |
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Helen Blay |
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Another Girl |
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Deborah Gordon |
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EXECUTIVE STAFF of the Jewish Art Theatre Corporation
Samuel Shore, General Manager
Louis Schnitzer, President
Morr Jacobs, Publicity Director
Fred Kasten, Treasurer
Gladys Cooperman, Assistant Treasurer
Isidore Elgard, Stage Manager
S. Pecker, Assistant Stage Mgr.
David Gold, Master Electrician
Julius Levy, Master Carpenter
Sam Wolensky, Master of Properties
Settings designed and executed by J. Foshko |
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SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE. Ysroel
Noah, a man in his early thirties, steeped in orthodoxy, is
suffering the torments of a childless life for seven years.
His paternal yearning, steeped in a deep spiritual desire
for race continuation, has caused him to pledge his life and
his possessions in the hope that God will send him a son. In
anticipation of prospective fatherhood he dedicates a new
synagogue in the city and at the laying of the cornerstone
he donates a sum of gold equal in weight to the stone. His
honesty, his straightforwardness and devout orthodoxy have
won for him the esteem of his neighbors and unlimited credit
among the farmers and merchants. He returns from the
dedicatory ceremonies with the Rabbi to be encouraged by the
merchants in his hope and sacrifice by their readiness to
help him financially should he ever need their aid. Tevyeh,
his partner, suspects that Ysroel has been drawing on his
share of the business funds and comes in to demand an
accounting. An examination of the records shows that Ysroel
has unknowingly drawn on Tevyeh's share of the money. The
thought that dishonesty, unintended though it was, may taint
his charities in the people's eyes and brand his pledge as
an empty sham, has crushed him. Tevyeh is offered a mortgage
on Ysroel's home as collateral against the overdrawn money,
but he refuses it and insists on a Rabbinical decision. The
Rabbi's request to overlook the unintended use of his money,
goes unheeded by Tevyeh who is determined to expose Ysroel
among the townspeople.
ACT TWO.
Midsummer. The discrepancy in the funds has preyed on
Ysroel's heart. And the constant thought that through an
inadvertent occurrence something base might mar the
spirituality which he feels has already enveloped the child
about to be born, has worn away his health. Though his
business has been neglected the grain merchants continue to
have faith in his honesty and are ready to extend him
credit. With his failing health he hesitates to incur new
obligations and goes to consult his wife.
A party of guests, traveling several miles on
their way to a wedding in a neighboring village, stop at the
household to repair their fatigue. In the group are the
groom, some relatives-to-be, old women, girls and a very old
woman, so old she can barely walk, who journeys to see her
last grandchild married off. The merriment of the party and
the spirit of life that fills each individual is a sharp
contrast to the vanishing hope and flickering light in
Ysroel's heart. After the evening prayer he is invited to
join them, but he declines. One or two offer explanations,
pieced together from heresy, and the others in the group
begin to nod their heads with understanding. He retires to
the house and faints. He is revived and the guests take
their departure. Pearl, left alone, feels that she is on the
threshold of motherhood.
ACT THREE. Some months later. Ysroel's health
fails from day to day. The child that his wife bore him
seems to draw its life from him. An atmosphere of ill
portent seems to hang over the house. Ysroel's entrance
startles Bluma from a vision. Their conversation rouses
Pearl from a dream that the synagogue her husband built is
in smoldering ruins. Bassa Faiga, frightened by her had
dream, runs to charm her grandchild from possible harm.
Tevyeh comes in to beg Ysroel's forgiveness for his hasty
accusations and with the aid of Osher and Gershen pleads for
reconciliation. Ysroel forgives him but refuses to enter
into any further business arrangements because of his
ill-health. Another visitor who comes in from the rain is
the Rabbi whom Lazar has brought to visit the ailing man.
With the realization of the new life for which he
consecrated his own vindication of his good name is the only
vitalizing force that still gives him a hold on life and
Ysroel makes one more feeble effort to continue his business
and announces his decision. But with the achievement of that
vindication he expires in the Rabbi's arms. |
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