New YENTL Adaptation Will Make International Premiere at the Marylebone Theatre

After a series of sold-out Australian seasons, including a five-star run at the Sydney Opera House, Yentl, Kadimah Yiddish Theatre's new adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's story, will make its international premiere at Marylebone Theatre from 6 March 2026 for a strictly limited run to 12 April, with a press night on Wednesday 10 March.

This bilingual staging reimagines Singer's revolutionary tale with a contemporary pulse and a vivid celebration of Yiddish culture. Set in an 1870s Polish shtetl, it follows a young woman who, forbidden by Orthodox law from studying Jewish scripture, disguises herself as a man and steps into a world alive with possibility and conflict. As her search for knowledge deepens, faith, gender, desire and tradition collide — propelling her toward a destiny that challenges every boundary.

Bold, lyrical and unapologetically modern, Yentl is a powerful story of courage, identity and the fight to live one's truth.

Three members of the original Australian cast will appear in the London season: Amy Hack as ‘Yentl', Genevieve Kingsford as ‘Hodes', and Evelyn Krape as ‘The Figure', joined by Kandice Joy as understudy ‘Yentl/Hodes', with further casting to be announced.

Yentl, the first significant new stage adaptation of Singer's story since the 1975 Broadway play and Barbra Streisand's 1983 film, premiered at Arts Centre Melbourne in 2022, returned in 2024 and transferred to the Sydney Opera House in 2024.

This international premiere reunites the acclaimed Australian creative team: directed and co-written by Gary Abrahams and 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 said, “This isn't Yentl as you know it. This production reclaims Issac Bashevis Singer's original Yiddish short story and reconnects it with its darker and more transgressive roots.   Singer's spirituality sings throughout, conjuring a world full of dybbuks, demons and ghosts. We are thrilled to have our international premiere in London, a city whose artists, playwrights and directors have been hugely influential to my own work.”

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 around the world, KYT has been hailed by audiences and critics alike for its unique voice, telling stories that are universal, relevant and prescient through a quintessentially Yiddish lens reaching broad-ranging audiences.

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 international premiere of Yentl is a key highlight of its 100th anniversary year.

Yentl is being presented and managed in the UK by award-winning international production company led by Oliver King, 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.