Awake and Singing: Seven Classic Plays from the American Jewish Repertoire; Vl.1 [Paperback]

Ellen Schiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

The first volume in a two-volume anthology presents the history and evolution of Jewish plays, focusing on plays written by Jews about Jews in America and featuring seven classics produced between 1920 and 1960, from Clifford Odets to Neil Simon.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Schiff (From Stereotype to Metaphor: The Jew in Contemporary Drama, SUNY Pr., 1983. o.p.) brings together seven plays that illustrate and pay tribute to the American Jewish theatrical canon. These important works?including Aaron Hoffman's groundbreaking Welcome Stranger (1920), Elmer Rice's Counsellor-at-Law (1931), and Sylvia Regan's Morning Star (1940)?appeared between 1920 and 1960 and were selected to represent a range of topics, themes, styles, and social attitudes. This compilation is especially valuable for two reasons: All but two plays are long out of print, and Schiff provides a valuable introduction that discusses theatrical and cultural issues, such as Yiddish theater, English as the "native" tongue, and writing both as a Jew and an American. Always avoiding academic jargon, she also introduces each play separately and includes an extensive discussion of the playwright, original cast and production information, and critical analysis that is helpful and well written. Recommended for all drama collections.?Susan L. Peters, Emory Univ. Lib., Atlanta
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

As editor Schiff notes in her introduction, although the influence of Jewish writers, performers, and producers on American theater in the twentieth century has been very great, "it generally passes . . . unremarked." This anthology collects four decades' worth of noteworthy Jewish plays, starting with Aaron Hoffman's Welcome Stranger (1920) and spanning the period during which Jewish writers, intellectuals, and performers gained increasing, if often begrudging, acceptance by the American mainstream. In compiling the collection, Schiff deliberately did not include classics of Yiddish-American theater, most notably Anski's Dybbuk, for she felt the rich and influential Yiddish theater deserves its own anthology, nor did she include plays written since 1960--they will be in her next volume. Some of the plays here are old chestnuts, such as Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing and Paddy Chayefsky's Tenth Man. But others, such as Welcome Stranger, which is concerned with anti-Semitism in a New England town, and Elmer Rice's Counsellor-at-Law, are long-lost gems of the American theater. Jack Helbig

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Signet (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451628691
• ISBN-13: 978-0451628695
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,618,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glorious celebration of Jewish-American life, August 14, 2002

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Awake and Singing: Seven Classic Plays from the American Jewish Repertoire; Vl.1 (Paperback)

"Awake & Singing: 7 Classic Plays from the American Jewish Repertoire," edited by Ellen Schiff, is a superbly conceived and executed anthology. The 7 plays in this volume were produced between 1920 and 1960, and explore many facets of the Jewish-American experience. Love and loss, war, anti-Semitism, class conflict, political debate, legal quandaries, economic struggle, family relationships, theological questions: it's all here in 636 pages of electrifying theatrical genius. The plays are as follows:

"Welcome Stranger," by Aaron Hoffman: a comedy about a businessman's fight against anti-Semitism; features a particularly engaging hero. "Counsellor-at-Law," by Elmer Rice: a fast-moving play that takes place in the New York law offices of its main character. "Awake and Sing!", by Clifford Odets: The story of a working-class family in New York City; full of colorful syntax and expressions. "Morning Star," by Sylvia Regan: a very moving play that follows a New York City family over the course of two decades; historical events like the Triangle factory fire are skillfully woven into the story. "Home of the Brave," by Arthur Laurents: the story of a Jewish-American soldier and his unit in combat in the Pacific theater during World War II; features some really harrowing scenes. "The Cold Wind and the Warm," by S.N. Behrman: A story of love, loss, and friendship; biblical law plays a key plot point. And finally, "The Tenth Man," by Paddy Chayefsky: A story of supernatural possession that takes place entirely in an orthodox synagogue on Long Island; a marvelous blend of dark comedy and creepy horror.

I've never seen any of these plays performed. But for the most part, the plays in this volume make excellent reading texts. "Awake & Singing" is one of those great anthologies that I would recommend for classroom use, for reading groups, and for the individual reader. Especially recommended if you're interested in 20th century American drama or the Jewish-American experience.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Awake & Sing by Odets, September 3, 2006

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Awake and Singing: Seven Classic Plays from the American Jewish Repertoire; Vl.1 (Paperback)

'Awake and Sing' from Isiah in the Bible involkes God's people to get on with life no matter what their hardships. Things can always get worse. This tragi-drama written by Clifford Odets took place in New York in 1935. The family is disturbed (today you would call them dysfuntional), and Bessie Berger is forever complaining and telling the others what to do. It is an unhappy family life for all concerned, simply because she just won't ever let up. She had worked hard so that her children were well dressed and clean when they were young, and constantly reminds them of all she had given up to do so. A video was made of this play starring Walter Matthau as the boarder in the 5th floor walkup apartment, and the young 21-yr-old male had to give up his room and sleep on the sofa.

Matthaw was all dressed in brown, hardly kosher, but no one seemed to pay him much attention as he was not part of the family. The grandfather, though, spent a lot of time talking with him when he was not counseling the young son of the family and playing Caruso records on the victrola. He told them "once i had in my heart a vision." It was a vision of a paradise on earth but due to circumstances it did not ever happen. He encouraged the young man to do what is in your heart, go out and change the world if you don't like it.

The mother, B.B., was trying to be matchmaker for her two older children but did not want the young one to ever marry. He was her life, as was Justin mine for many years. Alas, he has a girl he dearly loves but has no income of his own beside $16 and so the grandfather tells him that he has only one life to live, just live it, and conviently falls off the roof of the building leaving his insurance as a lump sum for the young man. The mother is all upset as she expounds on her big secret, that a mother does not desert her children and they get the best years of her life. Then, what is left? You cna't fight city hall. She is a bitter woman who takes all of her vitriol out on the ones she loves the most. But, now that they are grown, they no longer need her intervention and can make lives for themselves. It is a sad premise but it is real life, then and now.