Khayele Grober Explained

Khayele Grober (also transliterated as Chayele) (b. February 16, 1898 in Bialystok, Poland - d. December 10, 1978 in Haifa, Israel) was a theatre actor and playwright.^{[1] [2]}

Early life

She was born into a Jewish family in Bialystok, which was then a part of the Pale of Settlement of the Russian empire. Her father was a successful merchant, and Khayele graduated from a Russian high school before receiving private tuition in Yiddish and Hebrew. She spent the First World War in Moscow, where she trained as an actor at the Habima studio.^[1]

Career

After graduating from Habima, Khayele Grober's acting qualities quickly received the high praise of critics and audiences alike. In the words of the Yiddish lexikon:

• She was one of the best known Yiddish actresses with her own distinctive style."

Her fame was not limited to the Yiddish cultural scene; in 1935 for instance she had several performances at one of the theatres in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, to great acclaim.^[3]

She was the author of several books and one stage play. One of her books was a memoir of her ten years at Habima in Moscow, parts of which were published in Yiddish magazines such as Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper) in Buenos Aires, Keneder odler or Keneder Adler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal, and Di shtime (The voice) in Mexico.^[1]

After leaving the Soviet Union she eventually moved to Montreal, Canada in 1939, where she formed the Yidish Teater Group and introduced actors to the Stanislavski method.^{[1] [4]}

Khayele Grober settled in Israel in 1966, and died in Haifa twelve years later.^[1]

Literary works

• Tsu der groyser velt (To the great world) (Buenos Aires, 1952), 209 pp - a depiction of Jewish everyday life^[1]
• Af fridlekhe erd (On peaceful soil) - stage play

Notes and References

1. Web site: Yiddish Leksikon: KHAYELE (CHAYELE) GROBER. Joshua. Fogel. September 17, 2015.
2. http://imjm.ca/location/1669 Museum of Jewish Montreal: Chayale (or Khayele) Grober (1905-1964) was an actress, theatre director, and acting teacher who left a distinct mark on Montreal’s theatre scene. Of Russian origin, she trained with the famous Russian actor and director Yevgeny Vakhtangov at the Stanislavsky School in Moscow. She joined the Hebrew-language theatre troupe Habimah and participated in its North American tour, which allowed her to visit Montreal for the first time in 1930. An acclaimed performer, she would continue to travel the world for several years.
3. Web site: Centralteatrets historie. Paul. Gjesdahl. Øyvind. Anker. Øyvind. Sørensen. September 23, 1964. Gyldendal. National Library of Norway.
4. http://imjm.ca/location/1669 Museum of Jewish Montreal: (---) Chayale Grober settled in Montreal in 1939 and founded the YTEG (Yidishe Teater Grupe or Yiddish Theatre Group). In her Bleury Street studio, she produced plays and taught theatre to young Jewish Montrealers using the Stanislavsky method. A number of influential artists supported her in this venture, including the painter Alexandre Bercovitch and the dancer John Erskine-Jones. YTEG’s successful shows included its 1941 production of Tshvishen Tsvey Berg (Between Two Mountains) by I. L. Peretz | Grober directed other theatre companies as well, including the Habimah Ensemble, which staged a popular retrospective of the work of Sholem Aleichem in the 1950s, and the Hillel Players of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation.