Aussie show premieres in Montreal
THREE leading Australian stage performers are in Montreal to present an original piece of theatre at the International Yiddish Theatre Festival.
The trio are Tomi Kalinski, well known for being a member of the Hot Bagels and a former musical director to Barry Humphries; Elisa Gray, who performed on the Melbourne stage with Barrie Kosky’s Gilgul Theatre; and actor Evelyn Krape, who started her career at the Pram Factory and has appeared in the movies Babe and The Sound of One Hand Clapping.
They have formed a new group called Zaftik (which means “juicy and voluptuous” in Yiddish) and will perform an original show, Ek Velt – the title is Yiddish for “tail end of the world”, the name given by Jewish migrants upon their arrival in Australia – at the festival.
It’s a musical set around Jewish migration and the birth of Yiddish theatre in Australia.
Krape explains: “In the show we look at the beginnings of Jewish migration from the First Fleet and the gold rush era.
“Then we do a scene with a Yiddish actor who came out in the prewar days at the beginnings of Yiddish theatre.”
The early part of the show is being performed in English, but then switches to Yiddish, with surtitles in English and French.
“This is the first time that the three of us are doing a show together in Yiddish,” says Krape.
The three performers worked on the stage together in the 1990s in a show called A Celebration of Women.
Krape also worked with Kalinski in the musical Ginger and the stage show, A Very Peculiar Situation.
Ek Velt is the official Australian entry at the Montreal festival, which runs from June 17-25. Other entries are from countries including America, Canada, Israel, France, Poland and Romania.
The Montreal festival was held for the first time in 2009, and earlier this year it sent an invitation to the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre in Melbourne to select an entry.
As a result, Zaftik was formed to represent Australia at the festival.
“The show we are performing in Montreal is part one of the play, which ends after World War II,” explains Krape.
“There is a whole part two that is still to be devised and written, which we will start on when we return.
“We plan to perform it as our contribution to the Kadimah’s 100th birthday celebrations that start at the end of this year.”
Krape says Ek Velt is based on an Australian musical called Mazal Tov Cobbers which has been expanded with Jewish characters and Yiddish stories.
“We are taking the material from Jewish storytellers and dramatising it on stage.”
Krape said she had to brush up on her Yiddish, especially playing alongside experienced actor Gray and musician Kalinski, who are both fluent in the language.
“My parents spoke Yiddish and my house was full of Yiddish songs, but I was never encouraged to speak at home,” says Krape.
Krape also has her own show, The Many Faces of Eve, where she relives some of the major roles in her career.
REPORT: Danny Gocs
PHOTO: Zaftik performers (from left) Elisa Gray, Evelyn Krape and Tomi Kalinski.
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