[NEohioPAL]BERKO REVIEW: LAUGHTER IN 3 LANGUAGES/Actors' Summit

[Roy Berko]

FIREWORKS GREET DOROTHY & REUBEN AT ACTOR’S SUMMIT

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


Okay, let’s start off with a confession.   I am the
self-appointed President of the Reuben and Dorothy
Silver fan club.  The rest of the world can have their
Lunt and Fontaine, Tandy and Cronin.  I’ll take OUR
Reuben and Dorothy.  When they perform or direct I’m
there, clapping and qvelling (a Yiddish term meaning
“beyond loving” that fits well into this review).

Several years ago the Silvers conceived a reader’s
theatre style presentation which they could take on
the road.  Entitled ‘LAUGHTER IN 3 LANGUAGES’ its been
performed in on the north coast, in the Sunshine
state, and all the rest of the globe including
performances in Russia for Refusniks (Jews who were
being denied exit out of the Soviet Union).  Their
latest presentation is a two-week run at Hudson’s
Actors’ Summit.

The opening night’s performance was delayed for
half-an-hour due to a fireworks presentation.  Well,
to be honest, it wasn’t for the dynamic duo, it was
for the opening of a new shopping center in downtown
Hudson, about a quarter of a mile from the theatre. 
The Silver didn’t need the external fireworks, they
sent off their own with wonderful performances.

The show centers on a series of personal story telling
and the reading of writings by famous and
not-so-famous Jewish writers.  The show is performed
in English, Yiddish (the Jewish “mother tongue”)
spoken with simultaneous translations and “Yinglish”
(a mixture of Yiddish and English, such as “Ya vant
maybe a bowl mit panans [bananas]?”)

The script is both charming and heart-warming.  Some
of the most winning segments include the letters sent
to the advice column which appeared in the Forward,
the most popular of the Yiddish language newspapers. 
The column, which in English was entitled, “Packet of
Letters” was the forerunner to Ann Landers and Dear
Abby, two Jewish ladies who may well have borrowed the
idea.  The topics include sage advice on women’s right
to vote, dimples in the chin, immigrant homesickness
and arranged marriages.  Reuben, who is fluent in
Yiddish, reads.  Dorothy does simultaneous and often
hysterically funny English interpretations.  It’s like
being at an opera where you don’t understand the
Italian being sung, but the billboard above the stage
clarifies for you.  The difference is that Dorothy
adds facial expressions, pauses and intonations that
add to the hilarity.  It’s often fun just to listen to
the audience.  Those who understand Yiddish, laugh as
Reuben is reading.  The rest echo the hysteria when
Dorothy finishes her translations.  It’s a device that
works very, very well.

The reading of a chapter from Leo Rosten’s ‘THE
EDUCATION OF HYMAN KAPLAN’ is a total delight.  Reuben
was made to play Kaplan.  I’d love to see him play the
role in the play of the same name.  “Dear Bella,” a
story which includes a tender segment about of the
relatives distributing the money mamma had in her
piano is touching and a segment in which an immigrant
places $20 in the bank is hysterical.  

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  The year 2004 marks the 350th
celebration of the founding of a permanent Jewish
settlement in the United States.  It seems only
fitting that the Silvers use their extraordinary
skills to help take some people on a trip through
nostalgia and to introduce others to the joys of
Yiddish literature and thought.   Its a journey that
is well worth taking. 
  
‘LAUGHTER IN 3 LANGUAGES’ runs at Actors’ Summit in
Hudson until October 17.  For tickets call
330-342-0800.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, a free on-line source, which can be subscribed to at neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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