YENTL AND BENTL Will Come to the Marylebone Theatre in April
On 1 April, audiences can attend a special one-off queer night of Yentl at the Marylebone Theatre, celebrating all things LGBTQ+ in theatre.
After its London premiere and a series of sold-out Australian seasons — including a five-star run at the Sydney Opera House – producers have announced a one-off performance of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre's Yentl, a bold and acclaimed new adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story.
On 1 April, audiences can attend a special one-off queer night of Yentl at the Marylebone Theatre, celebrating all things LGBTQ+ in theatre, with an exclusive queer-focused post-show Q&A with the cast and director/writer Gary Abrahams hosted by the fabulous Ralph Bogard. The Q&A discussion is entitled “Understanding Queer Shame and our relationship to spirituality and religious orthodoxy”, and will go further into depth on the show's queer themes.
Ralph Bogard is as an accomplished actor and singer as well as a director and host. Notably hosting at legendary venues such as ‘The Prince Charles Cinema' and ‘Camp John Waters' where he has interviewed many creatives such as Stephen Dorff, Debbie Harry, Johnny Knoxville and Ricki Lake. Recently Ralph was the alternate for ‘Tevye' in the Olivier Award winning production of Fiddler On The Roof (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) and originated the role of ‘Hassan' in the UK tour of ‘I Should Be So Lucky. He has directed award winning plays such as The Importance Of Being Anxious (Encore Award winner at Hollywood Fringe Festival) and recently ‘It Never Rains'. Alongside this he is also a performance and cabaret artist whose work has been seen at the Tate Modern and with the National Trust and National Archives.
Furthermore, LGBTQ+ audience members can attend the performance of Yentl at a discount. The code YENTLANDBENTL grants 30% off tickets, and is applicable to only the 1 April performance.
Yentl is directed and co-written by Gary Abrahams with co-writers Galit Klas and Elise Hearst, with set and costume design by Dann Barber, lighting design by Rachel Burke, and original composition and sound design by Max Lyandvert. Yiddish translation is by Professor Rivke Margolis.
Gary Abrahams, Executive Director of Kadimah Yiddish Theatre said, “It's been fascinating and deeply rewarding to see how queer and queer aligned audiences have responded to the show over its various seasons. Yentl - as a figure and a fable- has taken on a life of their own within queer culture and folklore. Giving the story this Yiddish treatment - in style, tone, and high theatricality- furthers this aspect. We're thrilled to host a specific LBGTQI+ performance.”
Lew Forman, Associate Producer said, “Bringing Yentl over to the UK has been a journey that so many have supported - we have been overwhelmed by the positive response to the show so far, and in the last few weeks of our run, we are really keen to reach further audiences, especially the LGBTQIA+ audiences that I think Gary and the creative team have done such a fantastic job of representing in the show. I am so grateful that we can join forces with Ralph Bogard to bring this special evening to our audience, which of course is open to all with incredible value tickets including the post-show discussion.”
Under the leadership of award-winning directors Evelyn Krape (Artistic Director) and Gary Abrahams (Executive Director), Kadimah Yiddish Theatre (KYT) has re-emerged as one of Melbourne's most courageous and thought-provoking theatre companies. As the only contemporary bilingual Yiddish-English theatre company in Australia and one of only a handful worldwide, KYT is known for telling urgent, universal stories through a distinctly Yiddish lens.
The Kadimah has championed Yiddish language, culture and theatre since its establishment in Melbourne in 1911 and staged its first in-house production in October 1925, making Kadimah Yiddish Theatre the oldest theatre company in Australia. The London international premiere of Yentl is a major highlight of its 100th anniversary year.
Yentl is presented and managed in the UK by award-winning international production company Wild Yak Productions (The Mongol Khan, London Coliseum; Slava's SnowShow, West End & UK Tour; What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, Marylebone Theatre) in association with Counterminers CIC, a younger production company focused on artistic development and industry outreach.
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