Beacon Hill’s Vilna Shul hosts the U.S. premiere of “The Dybbuk” on May 30, staged by Needham’s own Arlekin Players Theatre. The troupe comprises immigrant actors from the former Soviet Union who focus on Russian and English plays.
It’s an exciting chance to see world-renowned actors on an intimate stage: One recent production, Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” debuted in New York City and featured Mikhail Barishynikov. It received acclaim from The New York Times. The troupe returns to New York this fall with an off-Broadway production of “The Merchant of Venice.”
Troupe leader Igor Golyak was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and came to the United States in 1990, graduating high school in Boston and then studying theater in Russia. Golyak adapted “The Dybbuk,” an ancient Yiddish folktale, for modern audiences. The show is part of its ongoing Jewish Plays Initiative. Through this effort, Arlekin Players produces plays that focus on issues such as displacement, antisemitism, immigration and the consequences of war. As such, the Vilna Shul venue is especially resonant for Golyak.
“Looking at the partially uncovered murals, the old pickle barrels that hold portions of the Torah, the stained glass windows with light filtering in and lists of Hebrew names on the walls, I could feel them all there with me— their love, their loss, their resilience, the displacement, the joy,” Golyak says of Vilna Shul.
The plot is equally timeless: Originally staged in 1920 and titled “Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn” (“Between Two Worlds”), it focuses on the dybbuk, a mystical concept from Hasidic Jewish folklore. The dybbuk is a disembodied human spirit that lingers between heaven and earth until it takes refuge in the body of a living person—in this case, Leah, a young woman who becomes possessed on her wedding day by the spirit of Channon, a young, poor, Hasidic scholar who once loved her but died when he learned she was betrothed to another, richer, potentially more secure man. The catch: The dybbuk can only be removed through exorcism.
He’s more forthcoming about theater’s role in a troubled time: He believes art has a vital role to play in the Jewish world. “I don’t think theater does provide answers, but we have a space where people can experience something together and feel common empathy and support for each other, and feel like they’re not alone in this world,” he says. The show features actors from the Arlekin Players troupe but stars Andrey Burkovskiy, a Russian actor now living in Los Angeles, in the lead dybbuk role. He’s excited to be in Boston—a city that he calls “European”—and is eager to work on a show that, in his mind, transcends Judaism to highlight universal themes. “For me, it’s a play about people, about relationships, about true love,” he says. Russian actress Yana Gladkikh, who trained at the Moscow Art Theatre School and the American Film Institute, stars as Leah. The show runs in previews from May 30 until June 2, with opening night on June 3. It’s in Boston through June 23. Get tickets.
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