Malthouse Theatre

A Kadimah Yiddish Theatre production.
Based on the original Yiddish short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

WRITERS / GARY ABRAHAMS, ELISE ESTHER HEARST & GALIT KLAS
DIRECTOR / GARY ABRAHAMS

29 FEB – 17 MAR

Merlyn Theatre

Winner of four Green Room Awards including Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Performance

Yentl

29 FEB – 17 MAR

'Theatre in this country is so rarely animated by ideas this complex and contested, and rarely this moving... it’s bracing and transformative'

The Guardian

'This mesmerising adaptation is nothing short of magic'

Time Out

'Assured and crisp... compelling'

ArtsHub

'Beautiful and profound'

The Age

After a triumphant debut in 2022, garnering wide acclaim, four Green Room Awards and numerous five-star reviews—Malthouse is proud to present a return season of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s Yentl. This new stage adaptation of Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer’s iconic short story is the first since the 1975 Broadway play and Barbra Streisand’s iconic 1983 musical film.

Yentl is the journey of a young woman who defies the Jewish Orthodox tradition that forbids females from studying religious scripture. When her father dies, Yentl emancipates herself by dressing in male guise, determined to live as a man to continue her studies. Religion, gender, sexual politics, and traditional Yiddish culture collide as Yentl finds her truth through faith and love.

Directed by Gary Abrahams and co-written by Gary Abrahams, Elise Esther Hearst, and Galit Klas, and starring Amy Hack, Nicholas Jaquinot, Genevieve Kingsford, and Evelyn Krape, Yentl is an ode to the feminist undertones and queer subtext of the original story and an invitation to celebrate the beauty of Yiddish culture.

Image / Jeff Busby

Originating Producer Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre & National Library; Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. Based on the original Yiddish short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Key image: Mark Gambino