New Yiddish Rep Sets April KABARET! And A Freedom Seder

For April, New Yiddish Rep has scheduled two events, a new "Kabaret!" event and a Freedom Seder, to be presented in its studio space, The Cyrus and Rose Feldman Studio Theater, located at 315 W. 39 Street, 9th floor.

On Saturday, April 13, the company will present "Motzei Shabbes Kabaret, International Night 13. It's an evening of performance art, song and theater in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, English, Italian and German; African Drumming, Middle Eastern Fusion, Blues, Nigunim and Hip-Hop Works in Progress from New Yiddish Rep's writing workshop. The performers are Abdoulaye, Ronit Asheri, Amy Coleman, Yochai Greenfeld, Lea Kalisch, Mira Kessler, Sam Lebovic, Dovid Lew, Gera Sandler, Noam Sandler and Bunia Turk.

Motzei Shabbes Kabaret has become one of the most popular events of New Yiddish Rep. It showcases the talent of its company members and gives them a chance to put the work they've been doing in acting, singing, and writing workshops in front of an audience. It also gives the company a chance to rub elbows with its supporters in an intimate an informal setting.

"Motzei Shabbes" means the hours after the end of the Sabbath (Saturday night after sundown): a time to welcome the new week.

Doors open at 8:30 and performances begin at 9:00 PM.Tickets are $20 (includes one drink). The box office is https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4215433. For info, call 800-838-3006.

On Friday, April 19, first night of Passover, the company will host "Freedom Seder." This free, informal seder celebrates the struggle of all oppressed people to be free, remembering that on April 19, 1943, on the night of the first seder, the last chapter of the Jewish armed struggle began in the Warsaw Ghetto. If you want to bring food or drink, great. If you want to make a donation, beautiful. Just come, you'll be welcome, but reservations are strongly recommended because seating is limited.

It will not be a formal seder, so don't expect one. Eat, drink and schmooze; there are no restrictions or rules, except not to infringe on anyone else's celebratory impulses. Sing "Khad Gadyo" if you like, or "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," Phil Ochs or The Beatles. Quote the Haggadah, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, or Lao Tzu. Eat matzo or bread.

Festivities begin at 7:00 PM. Admission is free but due to limited seating, reservations are strongly recommended. To reserve, go to https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4215443. For info, call 800-838-3006.

New Yiddish Rep (www.newyiddishrep.org) is a developer of a wide array of Yiddish theater-related artistic activities. It offers modern treatments of the Yiddish classics and Yiddish interpretations of modern and post modern masterpieces in intimate venues and with easily readable supertitles. Its productions since its founding in 2008 include Yiddish renditions of "Rhinoceros," "God of Vengeance," "Awake and Sing," "Death of a Salesman" and "Waiting for Godot" as well as an abundance of plays originating in Yiddish. Led by David Mandelbaum and Amy Coleman, its aim is to carry the classical into the present, to develop new Yiddish-inspired works, and to investigate modern approaches to the vast Yiddish theater lexicon.