Dora Wasserman (née Goldfarb[1]) (June 30, 1919 - December 15, 2003)
was a Jewish-Canadian actress, playwright and theater
director.Wasserman was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine two years after the
Russian Revolution.[2] There she learned about and performed in
live-performance theatres. She was the child of a modest Jewish
family. Her father was a locksmith. After studies at the School of
singing Rimsky-Korsakov of Moscow, she entered to the Jewish Theater
of Moscow (the GOSET), which she graduated in 1939, after 4 years of
formation with great masters, including Solomon Mikhoels. With her
diploma, Dora Wasserman left Moscow for Ukraine, but World War II
forced her to move to Kazakhstan. She made theater tours in Uzbekistan
and in Tadjikistan. Here she meet Sam Wasserman, a Polish refugee,
whom she married on March 8, 1943. Ella, their first daughter, was
born in Jambul on January 19, 1944. They survived the war. Dora
Wasserman heard nothing from her family for decades. Sam and Dora
Wasserman joined the stream of refugees moving from one transit camp
to another, finally arriving in Vienna. At the Rothschild Hospital,
Dora Wasserman began to perform for the refugees, creating programs
and entertaining in various displaced persons camps. In 1947 their
second daughter, Bryna, was born in Vienna.The Wassermans arrived in
Montreal on January 21, 1950. Intent on finding work, she began to
seek a place for herself, approaching Yiddish cultural and community
organizations. Her activities were many and varied from recitations in
schools, singing for organizations and performing at festivals and
conventions. While her connection with visiting and local writers was
sustained in weekly literary evenings, she also began to hold
children's theater workshops at the Jewish Public Library of Montreal.
Wasserman taught Yiddish's lessons and introduces young Montreal Jews
to the Yiddish Theater. The group of gifted youngsters whom she
gathered around her eventually grew into the backbone of her adult
company, to which she attracted performers to form the Yiddish Drama
Group in 1956.[1] She was recorded by foklorist Ruth Rubin.In 1958,
she founded of what is today called Montreal's Dora Wasserman Yiddish
Theatre. With the support of the comedian Gratien Gélinas, she
succeeded in producing Yiddish shows with amateur adults and
children.[3] Between 1958 and 1963, Wasserman mounted many
productions, including Hanna Szenes by Aharon Megged, The Lottery by
Sholem Aleichem and Sholem Asch's Kiddush Hashem and Uncle Moses. By
1964, when Yiddish theater, both amateur and professional, was
disappearing the world over, Wasserman determined that her group
needed to grow not only in scope of repertoire but in the
establishment of a permanent venue. In 1967 the newly opened Saidye
Bronfman Centre for the Arts became a permanent home for the Yiddish
Theater. In 1968 a collaboration began between Wasserman and the
composer Eli Rubinstein which made possible the dynamic, large-scale
musical comedies that challenged her group and elicited enthusiastic
response from audiences and critics alike.[1]
was a Jewish-Canadian actress, playwright and theater
director.Wasserman was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine two years after the
Russian Revolution.[2] There she learned about and performed in
live-performance theatres. She was the child of a modest Jewish
family. Her father was a locksmith. After studies at the School of
singing Rimsky-Korsakov of Moscow, she entered to the Jewish Theater
of Moscow (the GOSET), which she graduated in 1939, after 4 years of
formation with great masters, including Solomon Mikhoels. With her
diploma, Dora Wasserman left Moscow for Ukraine, but World War II
forced her to move to Kazakhstan. She made theater tours in Uzbekistan
and in Tadjikistan. Here she meet Sam Wasserman, a Polish refugee,
whom she married on March 8, 1943. Ella, their first daughter, was
born in Jambul on January 19, 1944. They survived the war. Dora
Wasserman heard nothing from her family for decades. Sam and Dora
Wasserman joined the stream of refugees moving from one transit camp
to another, finally arriving in Vienna. At the Rothschild Hospital,
Dora Wasserman began to perform for the refugees, creating programs
and entertaining in various displaced persons camps. In 1947 their
second daughter, Bryna, was born in Vienna.The Wassermans arrived in
Montreal on January 21, 1950. Intent on finding work, she began to
seek a place for herself, approaching Yiddish cultural and community
organizations. Her activities were many and varied from recitations in
schools, singing for organizations and performing at festivals and
conventions. While her connection with visiting and local writers was
sustained in weekly literary evenings, she also began to hold
children's theater workshops at the Jewish Public Library of Montreal.
Wasserman taught Yiddish's lessons and introduces young Montreal Jews
to the Yiddish Theater. The group of gifted youngsters whom she
gathered around her eventually grew into the backbone of her adult
company, to which she attracted performers to form the Yiddish Drama
Group in 1956.[1] She was recorded by foklorist Ruth Rubin.In 1958,
she founded of what is today called Montreal's Dora Wasserman Yiddish
Theatre. With the support of the comedian Gratien Gélinas, she
succeeded in producing Yiddish shows with amateur adults and
children.[3] Between 1958 and 1963, Wasserman mounted many
productions, including Hanna Szenes by Aharon Megged, The Lottery by
Sholem Aleichem and Sholem Asch's Kiddush Hashem and Uncle Moses. By
1964, when Yiddish theater, both amateur and professional, was
disappearing the world over, Wasserman determined that her group
needed to grow not only in scope of repertoire but in the
establishment of a permanent venue. In 1967 the newly opened Saidye
Bronfman Centre for the Arts became a permanent home for the Yiddish
Theater. In 1968 a collaboration began between Wasserman and the
composer Eli Rubinstein which made possible the dynamic, large-scale
musical comedies that challenged her group and elicited enthusiastic
response from audiences and critics alike.[1]
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