National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene Launches Indiegogo to Fund New Education Initiative

The 99-Year Old National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene has launched its first ever crowdsourcing campaign. Hosted on Indiegogo, the purpose of this fundraising enterprise is to fund a new educational initiative in bringing students to its upcoming musical the critically-acclaimed production of THE MEGILE OF Itzik Manger, a circus-themed retelling of the Book of Esther returning to Baruch Performing Arts Center for two weeks only, March 2 - 16, just in time for Purim.

"We're hoping to make this an annual event, like a Jewish Nutcracker" says Motl Didner, Folksbiene's Associate Artistic Director and Director of THE MEGILE. "The Purim Shpiel is the root of the modern Yiddish theater. It dates back half a millennium. There's a lot of history and culture there, and we want to provide young people, who have no living Yiddish speakers in their family a positive, formative experience."

Filled with comedy, magic, larger-than-life puppetry and spine-tingling acrobatics, THE MEGILE OF Itzik Manger is a delightfully entertaining modern retelling of Queen Esther's role in saving the Jewish population from an anti-Semitic plot. Set simultaneously in Biblical Persia and inter-war Poland.

With a goal to raise $20,000, Folksbiene plans to 1) create an interactive online study guide for teachers to engage their students in the backstory of the Purim Play and the migration of the Yiddish language throughout the centuries, accompanied with introduction lessons to the language and apps; 2) present student performances with partnering educational institutions; 3) hold open Q&A talk-back series with the cast and creative team; 4) bring THE MEGILE teaching artists into schools to facilitate educational workshops.

"By contributing any amount to this campaign, you make it possible for us to introduce a new generation to Yiddish language and culture," Didner notes, "you also make the statement "I believe that Yiddish should be a part of a Jewish education.""

Reaching just over the 25% mark, the campaign will run 9 days more. For additional information and to view the campaign visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-megile-of-itzik-manger

THE MEGILE OF Itzik Manger is presented in Yiddish and English, with English and Russian supertitles. Playing at Baruch Performing Arts Center March 2 - 16. For tickets, which are $40, visit the Baruch Performing Arts Center box office at (646) 312 - 5073, or visit www.nationalyiddishtheatre.org.