“What happens when a candle is blown out before its time?” -S. Ansky
By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Who doesn’t love a good ghost story? Whether it’s a campfire tale or Don Giovanni, there’s something about the “active dead” that excites and fascinates us.
Jewish lore has its share. Derived from the Hebrew word “da-book” (דבוק) meaning “attached”, a “dybbuk” (דיבוק)is “a spirit of a dead person that attaches itself to a person on Earth” (ref: New World Encyclopedia). The person may have died with unfinished business or a major ax to grind. One such story inspired the classic 1914 Yiddish play by S. Ansky, later a film in 1937. And it has come back to haunt us in a staged reading at the REP as part of the 21st Annual Lipinsky Family Jewish Arts Festival, May 20th-June 18th, 2014.
One-man tour de force, Ron Campbell is inhabited by 20 different characters in this adaptation written and directed by the REP’s Associate Artistic Director, Todd Salovey. San Diego audiences should remember Ron from his other one-man shows including The Thousandth Night, R. Buckminster Fuller and Shylock. And with music by Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi, for what more could you ask?
We begin in the present. It’s a wedding reception and slightly shickered Uncle Jerry is making a toast, explaining some of the uniquely Jewish elements to the best man “Hiroshi” as he goes.
Uncle Jerry calls out the band to play some background music for his story, something “Jewish”. Not “Hava Nagila”, not “Fiddler” but old-world, something that expresses the heartbroken yearning of the Jewish soul.
Chonen, a young but frail yeshiva bocher (religious student) has been delving deeply into Kabbala (Jewish mysticism). When his prayers and spells fail to make him a match with Leah, the one he pines for, he dies of a broken heart. One the night of her wedding, his ghost “attaches” itself to the bride he claimed.
What’s a father to do? Call the Rebbe (great rabbi) for an exorcism. The Rebbe convenes a court and calls the dead as witnesses.
Uncle Jerry slips back and forth from the story within to the story without, so that the lines between them blur. Some in the audience found it confusing, but I thought it was brilliant and jarringly funny. We come to appreciate that Uncle Jerry is a haunted soul with ghosts of his own.
The Dybbuk is a powerful story told with great passion, pathos and humor. It takes an actor of Ron Campbell’s caliber to pull it off and a klezmer virtuoso like Yale Strom to make it complete.
These staged readings help the REP to determine their next season. Well, Mr. Salovey, may the spirit of The Dybbuk attach itself to you until its mission in this world –and in your season- is fulfilled.
To learn more about the Jewish Arts Festival, visit www.sdrep.org.
*
Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. He may