VIDEO: RHINOCEROS Director Discusses the Future of Yiddish Theatre

Performances for the Yiddish world premiere of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros are set to begin next Thursday, September 7th at the Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42 Street (between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.) Presented by New Yiddish Rep in association with the Castillo Theatre, Rhinoceros will be performed in Yiddish with English supertitles.

In a new video, director Moshe Yassur reflects on Yiddish Theatre and explains how this production hopes to make an impact on its future. Check it out below!

Ionesco's Rhinoceros is generally cited as one of the main influences of Theatre of the Absurd. Nearly 60 years since its premiere, the agonizingly comedic Rhinoceros is making its Yiddish language debut with a translation by Eli Rosen. The sublime is merged with the ridiculous in this savage commentary on the human condition, in which an individual citizen of a small town watches his friends turn into Rhinoceroses one by one until he alone stands unchanged. The cast of Rhinoceros features Alec Burko, Amy Coleman, Macha Fogel, Malky Goldman, Sean Griffin, Chezky Israeli, Caraid O'Brien, Eli Rosen, Gera Sandler, Luzer Twersky, and Melissa Weisz.

A veteran of both the Yiddish and modern theatre, Moshe Yassur, who was born in Iassy, Romania (the cradle of the Yiddish theatre), worked for several years with Jean-Marie Serreau at the Théatre de Babylone in Paris, taking part often as assistant director in several first productions of Beckett and Ionesco. In New York Yassur was a protege of Woody King Jr., directing at the New Federal Theatre, and he helmed New Yiddish Rep's acclaimed productions of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and WAITING FOR GODOT.

Eugene Ionesco (1909 - 1994) was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre. Among his most popular plays are Rhinoceros, THE BALD SOPRANO, THE LESSON, THE CHAIRS, and THE KILLER.

RHINOCEROS marks the second Yiddish world premiere at New Yiddish Rep, following their groundbreaking production of GOD OF VENGEANCE last season which scored a New York Times Critics' Pick. New Yiddish Rep is dedicated to creating modern theater which speaks to a diverse contemporary audience, including those who never might have thought they could connect to a performance in a language other than their own