All God's Chillun Got Wings (Shvartse Geto), 1924

Title

All God's Chillun Got Wings (Shvartse Geto), 1924

Description

This item is a review by Zalmen Reyzen of the Vilna Troupe's adaptation of Eugene O' Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings, an Expressionist play about miscegenation inspired from an old negro spiritual. Arguably one of O'Neill's most controversial of plays, it starred Paul Robeson in the premiere, in which he portrayed the black husband of an abusive white woman, who, resenting her husband's skin color, destroys his promising career as a lawyer.

Translation

BRAVO, VILNER TROUPE!

The Vilna Troupe has once again reached new heights and, with it, elevated the Yiddish theater audience. This was strongly felt during the premiere of the Jewish version of O'Neill's "Black Ghetto;" it was felt in the festiveness (der yontefdikayt) of the large audience which filled up the Jewish People's Theater, it was felt in audience's stormy ovations, and it was felt in the lively debates that the production evoked.

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Citation

“All God's Chillun Got Wings (Shvartse Geto), 1924,” YIVO Online Exhibitions, accessed May 12, 2025, https://strashunlibrary.yivo.org/items/show/2948.

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