Fir teg

Fir teg (Yiddish: פיר טעג, 'Four Days') is a 1931 Yiddish language theatrical play written by M. Daniel.^[1]^[2] The play was based on the 1930 novel Yulis by Daniel, which dealt with the real-life personality of Iulius Shimeliovich [ru] - a former member of Bund turned Bolshevik revolutionary.^[1]^[3]^[4] Fir teg became the most popular of Daniel's works.^[4] Fir teg was played at Yiddish state theatres across the Soviet Union for over three years.^[4]

Background and Moscow premiere

Following the play Der toyber ('The Deaf', 1930) - which used Biblical and Jewish traditional themes - Soviet Yiddish playwrights were instructed to produce theatrical works that specifically dealt with Bolshevik revolutionary struggle and the Russian Civil War.^[1]^[5] Fir teg was the first Yiddish play produced following this directive.^[1] It premiered at the Moscow State Jewish Theatre on 7 November 1931, the fourteenth anniversary of the October Revolution.^[3] The play was directed by Sergei Radlov [fr] and Solomon Mikhoels.^[6] Mikhoels himself starred as the hero Iulius.^[7]^[8] Isaac Rabinowitz was in charge of scenery and Leo Fulver wrote the music for the play.^[6] Benjamin Zuskin portrayed the Polish revolutionary Stanislav Bronievsky.^[3]

Plot

Fir teg evolves around the events of the siege by Polish legionnaires of the Vilna Soviet of Workers Deputies in early 1919.^[1]^[4] Iulius is the central hero character.^[1] The name 'Four Days' refers to the days that Bolsheviks in Vilna (Vilnius) waited for the arrival of the Red Army to aid them.^[1] Within the Vilna Soviet, where most of the play is set, the Bolshevik characters debate with the nationalist socialist parties over the role of the Soviet.^[5] The Bolsheviks are betrayed by the General Jewish Labour Bund and the Polish Socialist Party, allowing the counter-revolutionaries to take control of the city.^[1] Faced with the betrayal of the other socialist parties, Iulius and other Bolshevik leaders chose to commit suicide rather than surrendering.^[1]

Critical reception and later adaptations

Whilst the play was critically acclaimed as the archetype of Yiddish revolutionary plays, the final suicide scene provoked controversy.^[1] Suicide was not the type of sacrifice that communist cultural movement would promote. Soviet critics argued that the revolution possesses no tragedy, solely heroism.^[4] Veidlinger (in Bliss Eaton (2002)) argues that the final suicide scene invokes a Jewish historical motif, the mass suicide during the Siege of Masada.^[1] However, apart from the usage of Yiddish language, there was no overt Jewish themes in the play.^[1]

Fir teg was one of the main plays of the 1932-1933 season at the Artef theatre in New York City, directed by Benno Schneider.^[9] A short review in The New York Times stated that "[t]he story is beautifully narrated and equally well portrayed."^[9] In 1941 Fir teg was played for the first time in Vilnius, before the German attack on the city.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Katherine Bliss Eaton (2002). Enemies of the People: The Destruction of Soviet Literary, Theater, and Film Arts in the 1930s. Northwestern University Press. pp. 96–99. ISBN 978-0-8101-1769-3.
^ Harry Butler Weber; George J. Gutsche (1981). "The" Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet Literatures: Including Non-Russian and Emigre Literatures. Criticism, literary: Russian - Drabkina, Elizaveta Yakovlevna. Academic International Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-87569-038-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ala Zuskin Perelman (24 March 2015). The Travels of Benjamin Zuskin. Syracuse University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8156-5324-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cecil Roth. Encyclopaedia Judaica: A-Z. Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972. p. 1289
^ ^a ^b Jonathan Frankel (19 May 2005). Dark Times, Dire Decisions: Jews and Communism. Oxford University Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-19-534613-8.
^ ^a ^b ידישער טעאטער אין אייראָפע צווישן ביידע וועלט-מלחמות: סאָוועטן-פארבאנד, מערב-אייראָפע, באלטישע לענדער. אלוועלטלעכן יידישן קולטור-קאָנגרעס, 1968. p. 111
^ RadioJai 96.3. Solomon Mikhoels, mucho más que un actor judío
^ David Zolotnistky (29 August 2021). Sergei Radlov: The Shakespearian Fate of a Soviet Director. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-36073-4.
^ ^a ^b Oxford Winter Symposium in Yiddish Language and Literature (1998). Politics of Yiddish: Studies in Language, Literature and Society. Rowman Altamira. pp. 139, 144. ISBN 978-0-7619-9025-3.
^ Leyzer Ran. אש פון ירושלים ד׳ליטע. Wilner Farlag, 1959. p. 354

[Eaton2002-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Katherine Bliss Eaton (2002). Enemies of the People: The Destruction of Soviet Literary, Theater, and Film Arts in the 1930s. Northwestern University Press. pp. 96–99. ISBN 978-0-8101-1769-3.

[WeberGutsche1981-2] Harry Butler Weber; George J. Gutsche (1981). "The" Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet Literatures: Including Non-Russian and Emigre Literatures. Criticism, literary: Russian - Drabkina, Elizaveta Yakovlevna. Academic International Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-87569-038-4.

[Perelman2015-3] Ala Zuskin Perelman (24 March 2015). The Travels of Benjamin Zuskin. Syracuse University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8156-5324-0.

[enc-4] Cecil Roth. Encyclopaedia Judaica: A-Z. Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972. p. 1289

[Frankel2005-5] Jonathan Frankel (19 May 2005). Dark Times, Dire Decisions: Jews and Communism. Oxford University Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-19-534613-8.

[p68-6] ידישער טעאטער אין אייראָפע צווישן ביידע וועלט-מלחמות: סאָוועטן-פארבאנד, מערב-אייראָפע, באלטישע לענדער. אלוועלטלעכן יידישן קולטור-קאָנגרעס, 1968. p. 111

[7] RadioJai 96.3. Solomon Mikhoels, mucho más que un actor judío

[Zolotnistky2021-8] David Zolotnistky (29 August 2021). Sergei Radlov: The Shakespearian Fate of a Soviet Director. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-36073-4.

[Literature1998-9] Oxford Winter Symposium in Yiddish Language and Literature (1998). Politics of Yiddish: Studies in Language, Literature and Society. Rowman Altamira. pp. 139, 144. ISBN 978-0-7619-9025-3.

[10] Leyzer Ran. אש פון ירושלים ד׳ליטע. Wilner Farlag, 1959. p. 354

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