Gerard Frydman and the Yiddish Theater

Frydman describes the several years following the Liberation as a period of euphoria for the Yiddish theater. In the history of the Paris Yiddish theater, this was one of the only times it benefited from financial support. Community organizations, Jewish political and cultural organizations sustained this form of expression of Yiddish culture. These material aids, however, were nevertheless insufficient to permit the formation of a permanent troupe of the Yiddish theater in Paris.

At the end of October 1944 the first performance in Paris in Yiddish took place in the Salle des Societés savantes, rue Danton, in the 6^th arrondissement. At that first reunion with the actors there was a sketch, songs, and they read a text. The first time that Frydman appeared as a young actor, was as an apprentice actor, one said stagaire at the time. It was Kinman who directed, a little play of Sholem Aleichem that was called, "Mozel Tov" : she was a cook, he was a boy who bought things for the kitchen, and all this takes place in the kitchen of a rich middle-class family. That first experience as an actor pleased him greatly and motivated him to continue.

Frydman recalls that when one of the actors had trouble memorizing part of a script, Kinman counseled Frydman to eliminate that part: "cut it, cut it," he repeated, "At least what is cut, the audience can't boo!.

The Yidisher Kunst Teater [Jewish Art Theater] or YKUT created a studio to form the young actors, a school of theater that remained open for two years. For a young actor like myself, who stayed with them at least two years, they had dance courses, courses of music, diction, mime, dance and stage presence. We had the studio to learn the profession, and at the same time we participated in the plays that were performed. These courses were uniquely for the young Yiddish actors. They were specially created in the cadre, called at the time, YKUT. It all took place in a studio.

The courses were given by professors from the outside; there was Jean Dorsi, a French actor, to teach diction, and Eliane Guillon for mime who was a student of Etienne Decroux, who brought back (renoueauvator) the pantomime to France. He was the maitre of Jean-Louis Barreau and Marcel Marceau. The courses for us were free. The formation of a Yiddish actor was very complete and serious.

I don't know why I was so attracted by the theater. I have never asked myself. I enjoyed being on the stage, but it was not because I wanted attention. Acting was never my profession; I could never live from the theater because it doesn't produce enough money. As a profession, I started as a metal worker in a factory in 1945-1946; I worked nights, because in the factories in Paris at the time, there wasn't electricity during the day, it was necessary to leave electricity for the others. We would rehearse every night and play the end of the week, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the time we worked. Everybody did the same. It was a troupe more or less professional but they always "tirer le diablo par le que" [to pull the devil by the tail] had little money, and each actor had another profession so as to live.

After the war, there was less separation in terms of content of plays, there was less the Shund; there were the actors who just wanted to do their best possible. "YKUT means 'Art' –doesn't that mean something?" – of course! "Why change the name?" Maurice Schwartz, he also called his theatre the Kuntz [Art] theatre. It was a name, no more, because after the war when we formed the YKUT, the PYAT was dissolved and was integrated in the YKUT. The arrival of a young generation of actors in this troupe led the leaders in 1946 to give it a new name: the Yidisher Kunst Teater [the Jewish Art Theatre] or YKUT. The repertoire of this new theater was very large, presenting both classic and popular works.

You shouldn't look for special meaning because at the time there was only an intent to unify the group. There were only three actors from PYAT remaining. There was no ideological significance to it.

The troupe in which Frydman played was constituted exclusively of "non-professional actors": the Yiddish actors could live by their act only rarely in Paris. About 20 young amateur actors got together regularly, usually at least once a week. The rehearsals took place after work, or during the weekend.

We were all enthusiastic; we were all young, we had the faith, certainly we were very motivated. If not, it was not easy; we weren't paid, on the contrary, the métro doesn't pay for itself.

To return to the Yiddish theater that was a theater, in fact was a theater of operettas, part of the troupe from London. In London, there was already a theater troupe that performed in Yiddish, and other actors performed in Paris, and there was, of course, a benefactor, because he had fallen in love with a young actress, and it was like that that the theater began in Paris. In 1889, and 90, Goldfaden presented three plays in Paris at a theaterat Boulevard Rochechouart in the 18^th arrondissment, and there were the critics and in the Paris press concerning the first play put on by Goldfaden; there were those who were very nice, saying to go see it; its very curious, it is worth your while to see it, and others were perjorative, painful. I believe the performance was of Schulamide of Goldfaden. It was a beautiful opera if you know the plays of Goldfaden.

It is necessary to say the theaters because there were two theaters in Paris; there was one which was to the left which was the PIAT, which after became, I don't recall the name and then there was the Théâtre de Lancry, which continued all the time with professional actors; there was a couple who lived from that.

After the play we all went to have something [boire un coup] at the Thermometre, Place de la Republique. You know, acting, it's physically very difficult; after. it is necessary to relax [decompresse]; one had hot chocolate, another a beer; another would eat a fried sausage, and for an hour or hour and half we stay there to calm ourselves; it's like that for all the actors in the world, in all the theatres throughout the world, its like that. But if his wife was there, she would want to lead him back home.

Theories of theatre, no, no – You understand, each director, comes with his conception of his play; he does what he wants; according to the play, in a certain play you have one decors; in another, another decors; then there are those that come just with a curtain, they have no need for a decors at all. I recall what are called the great actors, who with his wife, or his actors, place themselves before a table, and then he gives us the text and that still exists today. There is the reading of the play; there is that also.

There are the rehearsals. On principal, these take place only at night, 7 or 8pm, because all the actors have another job [métier]. There was around us a technical team. In general, they do just that. For the most part, we built sets, depending on the play. In the 60s, rue de Paradis, we made the costumes; we always had specialists, tailors, in making costumes. One time, it was my father-in-law who constructed the decors for a performance.

They are almost all gone now. The only ones still alive are: Genia Feierman, Gerard Frydman, Alan and Lea Fischer and Leon Spigelmann. All of us did the maximum to do the best possible. There were those who knew how to speak, or to sing or to dance. Rywke Gomer was very funny. She survived at Auschwitz because she gave performances for the guards in the concentration camp.

But I know that here (chez nous) the destiny of the great Yiddish actors was to carry the Yiddish theater everywhere in the world. Because they could not go only to Warsaw and New York where there were stable theaters, where there were one or two troupes, but there were the places to go where was no permanent troupes. The actors were there but it was necessary to have material so they would be able to work. As directors, there was Rotbaum, Mansdorf, …, there were others but I've given you those I recall.

That was in 63, 64, 65, and after the theatre came back in the early 70s, when we put on [monté] other performances, other spectacles, operettas, or more serious performances.

For publicity, there was the press, the two newspapers after the war, the Neuer Presse continued to appear, but the Paris Haynt stopped publication, and that was replaced by Unzer Vort. After the war, it became a newspaper more openly, 100% Zionist. It's not really the right; it's the droit Yid; it wasn't totally one-sided; when there were problems, there was a discussion. Each newspaper had its own politics.

"Frydman participated in Yiddish theatrical performances until the 1980s. The last one in which he played was in December 1983, entitled : "Notre tresor, culturel," under the direction of Joseph Stein. Frydman explains that the last years of Yiddish theater in Paris were very chaotic. Former actors of the Yiddish stage organized some performances, more and more spaced in time. All were advanced in age and performances could not be assured". As Josiane Pinhas-Broll stated in her memoir: "the Yiddish theater in France is dead from the death of its public".