“The God of Vengeance”: Is the Play Immoral? — Is it a Great Drama? Read what Frank Crane and others say brochure
New York: Apollo Theatre, 1923
Dorot Jewish Division
Brochure published in 1923 defending the play The God of Vengeance
The prominent Yiddish playwright Sholem Asch (1880–1957) wrote God fun nekome (The God of Vengeance) in 1907, a work that is widely recognized as one of the most beloved Yiddish plays of all times. It is celebrated for its dramatic plot, love story, openness and morality. At the core of the play is a story set in a provincial Jewish town in Poland at the then-present time. It unfolds at the brothel owned by a Jewish couple (Yankl and his wife, Sarah) who are trying to shield their innocent daughter, Rivkele, from the environment in which she already resides. But they soon discover that Rivkele has fallen deeply in love with the prostitute Manke.
Many fundamental moral issues were raised around staging the play. Its English-language American premiere, starring the famous Austrian Jewish actor Rudolph Schildkraut (1862–1930), seen here as Yankl, took place on Broadway in December 1922 with overwhelming success. However, in March 1923, the producer Harry Weinberger and the cast were suddenly brought to court for staging what was deemed an immoral drama. Weinberger, who was also an attorney, mobilized leading playwrights and theater personalities of diverse backgrounds in defense of the play and challenged the hypocrisy of society and its religious morality, thus underscoring the revolutionary significance of Asch’s creation. While the charges were ultimately dropped, the fact of indictment stands as a testament of profound conflicts within the Jewish immigrant community and the American society in general at that time.
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