Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v4.djvu/196

 6o8 Non-English Writings I — these were the elements of which a Yiddish "show" was concocted. Pseudo-bibhcal plots were greatly in vogue, the material of these also being handled quite unceremoniously. It must be said, however, in justice to Goldfaden, that his "historical operettes" Bar Kochba, Doctor Almosado, and particularly Sulamiih are imbued with a genuine folk-spirit, and the songs in these plays are of a tender plainciveness that is characteristic of the best Jewish folk-songs. Goldfaden composed both music and text. Yiddish drama took a decided turn for the better with the appearance of the first play {Siberia) by Jacob Gordin (1853- 1909), the acknowledged reformer of the Yiddish stage. Bom in Russia, he received a liberal though irregular education. When he came to New York in 1892 he was already a reformer and a fairly well recognized Russian writer. His acquaintance- ship with the noted Jewish actors Adler and Mogulesko prompted him to try his hand at play-writing. His first play met with success and it laid the foundation of his career as Yiddish plajnvright. Gordin took the Yiddish drama in Amer- ica from the realm of the preposterous and put a living soul into it. The methods of Goldfaden, Hurwitch, and Lateiner were not entirely abandoned; dancing and songs unrelated to the plot stiU occupied a prominent part in the play. But the plots were no longer of the blood-curdling, impossible kind, and the characters were living persons. Under the influence of his plays, Jewish actors began to regard their profession as one which calls for study and an earnest attitude. But while his achievements are invaluable as those of a reformer, his work is not intrinsically great. With all the realism of his situations, with all the genuineness of his characters, he was rather a pro- ducer of plays for a particular theatrical troupe than a writer of drama. That his comic characters generally stand in organic relation to the play is one of his chief merits. Of his many pieces (about 70 or 80) only a score or so have been published, and some of these are worthless as literature. Mirele Efros, Gott Mensch un Teufel, and Der Unbekanter are among the best of them. Gordin's successors and disciples have not advanced the Yiddish stage beyond realistic melodrama. The two better play- wrights supplying it, Leon Kobrin and Z. Libin, both display a