[NEohioPAL]Dorothy & Reuben Silver Reviewed at Actors' Summit

Tue Oct 12 07:37:12 PDT 2004

-------------------------------1097591832
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

`Laughter' presents immigrant tales

Husband and wife give Hudson performance filled with colorful vignettes of 
Jews' experiences

Kerry Clawson

Beacon Journal

The average theater enthusiast's knowledge of the Yiddish term ``mamaloshen'' 
may not go beyond recognizing it as the title of celebrated songster Mandy 
Patinkin's Broadway concerts in the late 1990s.
At Actors Summit in Hudson, ``mamaloshen,'' or ``mother tongue,'' is the 
central conceit for the two-person show Laughter in Three Languages. The play, 
conceived by acclaimed Cleveland actors Reuben and Dorothy Silver, explores the 
Jewish immigrant experience in America from the late 1800s through the 1920s.
The husband-and-wife duo adapted literary works by American Jewish authors -- 
mainly humorists -- to create colorful vignettes. In this evening of 
storytelling, the Silvers present tales in Yiddish and English.
The Silvers' goal is to portray the immigrant experience as a universal one. 
All immigrants have struggled with the difficulties of learning English, 
becoming educated, seeking gainful employment and simply finding their way in the 
strange country that is America. The play is performed in honor of the 350th 
anniversary of the first Jewish settlement in the United States as well as the 
150th anniversary of Jewish settlers in Akron.
In this production, vignettes range from a young immigrant girl working in a 
sweatshop, to a man's distrust and fear of U.S. banks, to an over-eager 
immigrant attending night school in an effort to become a true Yankee.
On opening night Friday, Laughter in Three Languages at times felt like two 
different productions. Early in the show, the Silvers take turns reading 
immigrants' letters written to the Bintel Brief, a well-loved column in the Jewish 
Daily Forward. They each read the material from scripts on music stands, 
changing their voice inflection to represent different characters.
When the Silvers are reading, the play -- which has neither sets nor costumes 
-- feels like a staged reading. The material is interesting, but don't expect 
theatrics. (The show normally runs 80 minutes without intermission, but on 
opening night, a small break allowed audience members to enjoy fireworks outside 
celebrating the grand opening of Hudson's new First and Main shopping center.)
Laughter in Three Languages achieves a more natural flow and truly excels 
when the couple performs translations of Yiddish stories. Reuben Silver speaks in 
the rich, poetic tongue of his ancestors and Dorothy steps away from her 
music stand to translate at appropriate intervals, without reading from the script.
These lightning-quick translations work very well, as they become highly 
animated. As the first translated tale unfolded, I felt as if I actually knew some 
Yiddish.
In most of these stories, the original Jewish authors make loving jabs at 
immigrants' foibles. In one of the funniest tales, Leonard Q. Ross' The Education 
of Hyman Kaplan, the student Hyman mangles Shakespearean poetry.
Laughter in Three Languages' third language is the colorful and comical 
``Yinglish,'' which combines Yiddish and English. Think ``holdupnik'' for 
``gangster.''
Dorothy breaks down the theater's conventional fourth wall in this show by 
addressing the audience directly. She teases her husband, who as a 
cherubic-faced little boy won sweets from a Jewish baker for speaking perfect Yiddish, his 
first language. For the most part, the show's tone is very light. The Reubens 
make only one mention each of the Holocaust or anti-Semitism.
Laughter in Three Languages is educational, but also has a mix of humor, 
melodrama and pathos. The Silvers achieve their goal of presenting the universal 
immigrant experience.
The piece left me thinking harder about my own immigrant ancestors' struggles 
with assimilation. Even as a first-generation American, my Irish grandmother 
was chased by Polish children on her way home from school through their 
Buffalo neighborhood and flogged with socks stuffed with potatoes.

-------------------------------1097591832
Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML><HEAD>
<META charset=3DUS-ASCII http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; cha=
rset=3DUS-ASCII">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2900.2180" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff=
f">
<H1>`Laughter' presents immigrant tales</H1><IMG height=3D5 src=3D"http://ww=
w.ohio.com/images/common/spacer.gif" width=3D1> Hus=
band and wife give Hudson performance filled with colorful vignettes of Jews=
' experiences <IMG height=3D10 src=3D"http://www.ohio.com/imag=
es/common/spacer.gif" width=3D1> =
Kerry Clawson <IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://www.ohio.co=
m/images/common/spacer.gif" width=3D1> Beacon Journal <IMG height=3D1 src=3D"http://=
www.ohio.com/images/common/spacer.gif" width=3D1> 
The average theater enthusiast's knowledge of the Yiddish term ``mamalosh=
en'' may not go beyond recognizing it as the title of celebrated songster Ma=
ndy Patinkin's Broadway concerts in the late 1990s.
At Actors Summit in Hudson, ``mamaloshen,'' or ``mother tongue,'' is the=20=
central conceit for the two-person show Laughter in Three Languages. =
The play, conceived by acclaimed Cleveland actors Reuben and Dorothy Silver,=
 explores the Jewish immigrant experience in America from the late 1800s thr=
ough the 1920s.
The husband-and-wife duo adapted literary works by American Jewish author=
s -- mainly humorists -- to create colorful vignettes. In this evening of st=
orytelling, the Silvers present tales in Yiddish and English.
The Silvers' goal is to portray the immigrant experience as a universal o=
ne. All immigrants have struggled with the difficulties of learning English,=
 becoming educated, seeking gainful employment and simply finding their way=20=
in the strange country that is America. The play is performed in honor of th=
e 350th anniversary of the first Jewish settlement in the United States as w=
ell as the 150th anniversary of Jewish settlers in Akron.
In this production, vignettes range from a young immigrant girl working i=
n a sweatshop, to a man's distrust and fear of U.S. banks, to an over-eager=20=
immigrant attending night school in an effort to become a true Yankee.
On opening night Friday, Laughter in Three Languages at times felt=
 like two different productions. Early in the show, the Silvers take turns r=
eading immigrants' letters written to the Bintel Brief, a well-loved column=20=
in the Jewish Daily Forward. They each read the material from scripts on mus=
ic stands, changing their voice inflection to represent different characters=
.
When the Silvers are reading, the play -- which has neither sets nor cost=
umes -- feels like a staged reading. The material is interesting, but don't=20=
expect theatrics. (The show normally runs 80 minutes without intermission, b=
ut on opening night, a small break allowed audience members to enjoy firewor=
ks outside celebrating the grand opening of Hudson's new First and Main shop=
ping center.)
Laughter in Three Languages achieves a more natural flow and truly=
 excels when the couple performs translations of Yiddish stories. Reuben Sil=
ver speaks in the rich, poetic tongue of his ancestors and Dorothy steps awa=
y from her music stand to translate at appropriate intervals, without readin=
g from the script.
These lightning-quick translations work very well, as they become highly=20=
animated. As the first translated tale unfolded, I felt as if I actually kne=
w some Yiddish.
In most of these stories, the original Jewish authors make loving jabs at=
 immigrants' foibles. In one of the funniest tales, Leonard Q. Ross' The=20=
Education of Hyman Kaplan, the student Hyman mangles Shakespearean poetr=
y.
Laughter in Three Languages' third language is the colorful and co=
mical ``Yinglish,'' which combines Yiddish and English. Think ``holdupnik''=20=
for ``gangster.''
Dorothy breaks down the theater's conventional fourth wall in this show b=
y addressing the audience directly. She teases her husband, who as a cherubi=
c-faced little boy won sweets from a Jewish baker for speaking perfect Yiddi=
sh, his first language. For the most part, the show's tone is very light. Th=
e Reubens make only one mention each of the Holocaust or anti-Semitism.
Laughter in Three Languages is educational, but also has a mix of=20=
humor, melodrama and pathos. The Silvers achieve their goal of presenting th=
e universal immigrant experience.
The piece left me thinking harder about my own immigrant ancestors' strug=
gles with assimilation. Even as a first-generation American, my Irish grandm=
other was chased by Polish children on her way home from school through thei=
r Buffalo neighborhood and flogged with socks stuffed with potatoes.</BODY></HTML>

-------------------------------1097591832--