A HISTORY OF THE JEWISH REPERTORY THEATER (NEW YORK CITY, OFF-BROADWAY).
Item
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Title
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A HISTORY OF THE JEWISH REPERTORY THEATER (NEW YORK CITY, OFF-BROADWAY).
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Identifier
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AAI8708272
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identifier
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8708272
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Creator
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BACKALENICK, IRENE.
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Contributor
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Charles Gattnig
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Date
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1987
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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This dissertation chronicles the first ten-year period of the Jewish Repertory Theater (JRT) in New York City and examines Ran Avni's role as its co-founder and artistic director. I have studied this particular company because it is in the forefront of the newly-emerging American Jewish theater. In fact, the JRT can be taken as a prototypical theater in this movement.;I have looked at the JRT, not only in relation to the current Jewish theater scene, but also within the continuum of Jewish theater history. The opening chapter, in fact, surveys Jewish theater from earliest times to the present.;In surveying the JRT, the following questions were posed: What is Jewish theater today? What significance does it have to its audiences? How does it compare to the Yiddish theater of a century ago?;Two chapters in this study deal with the JRT's chronological development, production by production. One chapter reports on the early life and professional growth of Ran Avni. A further chapter focusses on the playwrights-in-residence program, describing the playwrights' contributions. Another chapter, based on a questionnaire survey, examines the JRT audience and its attitudes.;What emerges from the dissertation is that no single answer was found to the posed questions: What is contemporary Jewish theater? How is it defined? What is its purpose? Jewish theater is no longer defined by a unique language, as in earlier times, and must seek other answers for its raison d'etre. The current practitioners are still groping for those answers, although those interviewed agreed that Jewish theater has to do with the "Jewish experience," both current and past experience.;My conclusion is that the Jewish Repertory Theater has proved to be durable and successful, but that it is in a state of continuing growth and exploration, and it seeks those answers with each new season.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Theatre
