Author Description

The Dybbuk, by S. An-sky (1863-1920) is the crown jewel of the Jewish theatre, the most renowned, most beloved, most translated, and most performed of all Jewish plays. It was first performed in Yiddish by the Vilna Troupe in Warsaw in 1920, and by the Habima Theatre in Moscow in 1922. It has subsequently been performed thousands of times all over the world in a score of languages. It is still being performed well into the 21st Century. The Hebrew version included here was translated by Ch. Nachman Bialik (1873-1934) from An-sky's Yiddish play. Bialik is regarded as the most outstanding modern Hebrew poet, and the national poet of Israel. His translation was first published in the journal Hatekufah in Moscow in July 1918. Some critics, as well as An-sky himself have expressed the opinion that the Hebrew translation is superior to the Yiddish original. It is a literary classic in its own right, and is often listed as a major achievement in biographical notices of Bialik. Comparing the texts of the two versions, it is easy to see that the Hebrew is less repetitious, more concise, and less colloquial than the Yiddish. In modern parlance, the translator "tightened" the script. Unfortunately, this Hebrew version has never been performed as such; a shortened, modified version, was developed by Habima under the guidance of the Russian-Armenian director Evgeny Vakhtangov and has been performed hundreds of times. This bilingual edition includes an English translation by Fernando Peñalosa. The two languages are printed on facing pages. This is the first time Bialik's Hebrew version of The Dybbuk has been translated into English. x, 168 pp., Introduction, Notes