Y E N T L

Great show, moody and thought provoking

A bit slow but interesting enough.

Great production, really well conceived play, and quite funny.

Very good production. Enjoyable

Liked it more than the movie.

Great show amazing acting

strong performances, some technical issues, it was too lengthy with opportunity to cut out a bit of excess

Exceptional, moving performances from the cast and beautiful singing to finish off. Brilliant seats too! Highly recommend going to this!

Enjoyable performance.

Strong performance! Really well done!

It was a great performance by all the performers.

That was excellent performance this year with the amazing production.

Great show very moving took me awhile to get used to how it was presented but eventually was able to really appreciate it and found the acting remarkably good

Grest show

Very illuminating and I learned a lot. Great actors

Thoroughly enjoyed this production. Top cast!

Worth the train ride and walking in the rain to see the superb performance. The projection of English subtitles against the back wall was interesting and novel. Kudos for great stage props, lighting and costumes. All on point. Unfortunately, attendance was poor on the day, possibly due to the rain.

Saw a preview and the technology needed a bit of practice. This show wasn’t for me

Yentl is wonderfully produced period drama which blends themes of gender roles and expectations, friendship, love and self realisation. The performances by the leads were absolutely fantastic!

Performers were excellent but the story was slow and seem to drag on for to long

Fantastic performance! The acting was immersive and emotional, offering great commentary - would definitely see again

very enjoyable and emotional performance

Such a powerful performance!

Very engaging

Great performance, a really great take on a story I've never read.

One thing to note, there definitely some work needs to be done around subtitles and ensuring the non Jewish speaking audience can follow what's going on and what's been said

Great performance, highly recommended

Amazing performance, even for an opening preview night. The surtitles lagged a bit due to it being the very first performance in front of an audience and some technical difficulties, but the performers were great. Would definitely recommend.

Brilliant

Highly recommended. I can't add to the earlier review comments. It was wonderful to hear the fluency of the actors' Yiddish interspersed with English.

Really interesting show! Definitely recommend

Brilliant acting, well cast and directed. Very thought provoking play. Loved it!

Acting brilliance! Set design simple yet so effective.
Barbara would be proud!

Excellent production without the Hollywood sugar coating.

The theme of a girl wanting to have the life choices of a boy resonates through the ages, making this production relevant today as well as showing strictures of the past. The character of the mischievous narrator is especially well realized. The English subtitles projected at the back of the stage made the meaning of the Yiddish work for non-speakers. Sometimes they moved a little too fast, but overall the tactic worked. A unique and worthwhile production.

It was quite slow moving especially in the beginning and reading subtitles that sometimes does not come out at the right timing is a bit of a challenge.

an amazing production with a great cast .. very thought provoking

Talented actors.

I throughly enjoyed this. Such a great story and very well acted!!

An outstanding production and memorable adaptation of the original book. It's powerful, historical and yet the story line as well as the production are surprisingly contemporary. I also enjoy the bilingualism of the production which makes it authentic and yet accessible by those who are not Yiddish speakers.
Highly recommended.

Loved the modern interpretation of the original ! Well done !

Yentl is an emotionally powerful, layered dramatization of a tale by the wonderful Yiddish writer, Isaac Bashevis Singer. I read the story many years ago and, before last night’s performance, I recalled it, somewhat dimly, as being about a young woman with a burning desire to join a Yeshiva and study the religious texts which were forbidden to her as a woman. She rejected the role of wife and mother, which was her only option in those days. In some orthodox Jewish sects, these religious and cultural strictures persist.

The Kadimah Yiddish Theatre actors revealed a much richer interpretation. The prologue provides a Jewish mystical understanding of the male/female principles of unity. This sets the scene for the Yentl’s struggle to express her queer identity, an interpretation that is apparently faithful to the original text and is a far cry from Barbara Streisand’s commercial schmalz. One character is not in the original story - the cackling crone who is a narrator, a mouthpiece for Yentl’s inner turmoil and a mischievous presence, enticing Yentl to push the very limits of transgression.

If the audience didn't know the context or was expecting a re-run of the Streisand version Hollywood story they were in for a surprise, not least because of the extent of the Yiddish dialogue. I am familiar with a few expressions from my Yiddish-speaking forbears but I had no hope of following the Yiddish in the performance. Somehow it didn’t matter. There were a few surtitles and they sufficed. The quality of the acting spoke for itself.

Strong performances! A must see!

Fantastic production in an iconic setting. Interesting approach to have the production in two languages which worked very well.

Great Drama & Sets

Great engrossing performance and chemistry. Especially by the female and male lead.

Great show!

Theatre at it's best. A must see.

Grimms’ fairytales meets Shakespeare with a liberal dose of religion. Original and quirky. Some enjoyable moments, particularly those involving humour. Nude male scene was unexpected and done well. Exquisite ending.