The Jewish King Lear

Hailed as one of the foundational works of the “Golden Age” of American Yiddish theater, The Jewish King Lear is also the crowning work of Jacob Gordin, the Russian-born American regarded as a master of the form. Transposing Shakespeare’s timeless tale to the 19th-century Russian steppe, Gordin depicts the clash of culture and tradition, duty and education, wealth and family in Ruth Gay’s new translation.

STC is pleased to partner with Theater J’s Yiddish Theater Lab on this creation of this special reading.

The ReDiscovery Reading Series introduces audiences to new adaptations of great but lesser-known classic plays under consideration for STC’s mainstage seasons.

Theater J’s Yiddish Theater Lab revives and re-imagines the neglected classic plays of the Yiddish theater, bringing them to a modern audience in English translation.