Jewish Theatre

This article describes the history of the Jewish theatre, Jewish theatre studies, the history of the Israeli theatre from 1889 to 2001, and Israeli theatre studies. Although Jews were known as the People of the Book, and despite the very rich literature attached to Judaism, the dramatic genre never became an integral part of Jewish civilization, and theatre as an institution was never a part of its cultural life. This may be in part because the Bible and the book of oral law - the Talmud and later rabbinical writings - contain vehement exhortations against the theatre. In Judaism, jesters are identified with idleness and heresy. Meanwhile, the extent of performative activity in Israel is impressive for a country with no theatrical tradition and a population of merely 4.5 million Jewish and Hebrewspeaking inhabitants. Between 1970 and 1990, Israel held first place in the world in theatre attendance per capita.