The Yiddish Book Center's

Yiddish Book Center Recorded Programs

Lectures, events, and public programs recorded at the Yiddish Book Center

Modicut Yiddish Puppet Theater, 1925-1933 with Eddy Portnoy

Edward Portnoy

About this program:

Modicut Yiddish Puppet Theater, 1925-1933 with Eddy Portnoy

Featuring: Edward Portnoy

In late 1925, cartoonists and book illustrators Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler—a wild and wonderful artistic duo—fell upon the idea of creating a Yiddish puppet theater. An immediate hit on the Lower East Side, their hilarious puppet plays were performed to sold-out crowds all over the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union. Fusing Jewish tradition with high art and left-wing politics, Maud and Cutler created a unique Yiddish experience. This lecture from Eddy Portnoy, featuring photos, illustrations, and a short film, will detail the compelling history of this unusual Yiddish puppet theater.

Eddy Portnoy is the academic advisor and director of exhibitions and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. He is the author of Bad Rabbi and other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press (Stanford University Press 2017).

This event took place on June 17, 2021. It was presented online by the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA.

This recording was digitized and added to the library in April 2022.

This recording is in English

More information about this recording:

View the full record for this recording on Internet Archive.