Performing Jewish Rituals on Stage: The Case of S. An-sky’s The Dybbuk: or Between Two Worlds

Abstract

This thesis examines the intersection between the performance of Jewish religious rituals in real life and their performance in theatre, as exemplified through a case study of S. An-sky’s seminal and often adapted play: The Dybbuk: Or Between Two Worlds. In addition to An-sky’s original text, this thesis takes Tony Kushner’s 1997 adaptation A Dybbuk: or Between Two Worlds and Soulpepper Theatre’s 2015 adaptation The Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds as its subjects. By utilizing dramaturgical analysis, performance analysis, and historiography, this thesis names, describes, and analyzes the major techniques used to translate the performance of Jewish rituals from the real world onto the stage as well as the dramaturgical and performative effects these rituals enact. This analysis is further contextualized through the theoretical lenses of adaptation, translation, and Jewish Studies. This thesis examines not only how a playwright and/or director translates the performance of Jewish rituals onto the stage and how those rituals impact the construction and performance of the text, but also how this performative practice can both introduce and reinforce Jewish cultural and religious knowledge in contemporary North American society.