The Dybbuk | |
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Written by | S. An-sky |
Characters |
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Date premiered | December 9, 1920 |
Place premiered | Elizeum Theater, Warsaw |
Original language | Russian |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | Brinitz and Miropol, Volhynia, Pale of Settlement |
The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds (Russian: Меж двух миров [Дибук], trans. Mezh dvukh mirov [Dibuk]; Yiddish: צווישן צוויי וועלטן - דער דִבּוּק, Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk) is a play by S. An-sky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yiddish by An-sky himself. The Dybbuk had its world premiere in that language, performed by the Vilna Troupe at Warsaw in 1920. A Hebrew version was prepared by Hayim Nahman Bialik and staged in Moscow at Habima Theater in 1922.
The play, which depicts the possession of a young woman by the malicious spirit – known as dybbuk in Jewish folklore – of her dead beloved, became a canonical work of both Hebrew and Yiddish theatre, being further translated and performed around the world.