OYK Stratford Theatre Trip

The OYK Toronto branch’s trip to the Stratford Theatre Festival on October 2 was all about tradition. Of the 30 or so women and the handful of men who attended, many are regulars of the annual day-long excursion, and most had seen the musical that was on offer, Fiddler on the Roof, before. Yet, all seemed to enjoy the chance to once again hear the popular tunes accompanying the story of Tevye and his struggle to maintain centuries’-old Jewish customs within his familial domain.

The event began at the UNF Toronto Branch on Evans, where a bus was waiting to take participants to Stratford, Ontario. As in past years, there was a lunch stop at Swiss Chalet, a pit stop at Tim Horton’s and the usual highlight of the event, an afternoon of fine theatre.

Of particular interest this year for the OYK group was the setting of the musical. Fiddler on the Roof takes place in Anatevka, a fictional shtetl in 1905 in what is now Ukraine. It was based on a collection of short stories by Sholem Aleichem, who was born in Pereyaslav in 1859 and lived much of his life in Kiev, where he owned and edited a newspaper, before moving to the United States.

American Joseph Stein wrote the award-winning musical, which features music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Narnick.

The main character is Tevye, a poor milkman and father of five daughters. Each of his eldest three daughters, despite opposition from Tevye and their mother Golde, moves further away from the customs of their faith and culture. The first Tzeitel, rejects the well-to-do older man chosen by the village matchmaker and asks permission to marry a young impecunious tailor. The second, Hodel, falls in love with Perchik, a young Marxist student, who breaks tradition by dancing with Hodel at her sister’s wedding. Hodel does not even seek Tevye’s permission, just his blessing, to marry. The third marries outside the Jewish faith.

Their story is set against a turbulent political backdrop. Their home is within a territory that at that time was ruled by Imperial Russia, and Jews were conscribed to living within an area called the Pale of Settlement, first set out by Catherine the Great in 1791. Over a century, there were reconfigurations of the territory. In the musical, the Jewish residents are told that they must vacate their town within three days. The musical ends with their exodus.

In many ways the Stratford production of Fiddler on the Roof was superb. The staging, the set design, the costumes, the orchestra and the performances, in general, were outstanding. Notably, the dancers seemed to have been trained by someone knowledgeable in the choreography of Ukrainian Dance.

The rating of any production of this musical, though, hinges on the performances of the actors in the central roles. Kate Hennig seemed slightly miscast as Golde. Scott Wentworth looked the part and performed more than adequately as Tevye, but still failed to bring the required measure of sparkle to the role that would have elevated the production to a higher plane.

The OYK excursion itself seemed to get rave reviews on all counts. It was a fun day of fine theatre that afforded participants a chance to re-connect with friends and to meet new ones. On the way back to Toronto, Ulana Steck, the organizer, was already taking names down of those who wanted to sign up for the next theatre trip, demonstrating that this annual OYK outing is one tradition that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.