Page "Elisha ben Abuyah" Paragraph 20

Jacob Gordin wrote a Yiddish play, Elisha Ben Abuyah ( 1906 ); it was played unsuccessfully in New York City during Gordin's lifetime, and more successfully in numerous productions after his death ; the title role was written for Jacob Adler, the only actor ever to play it.

In the 1911 production after Gordin's death, the fallen woman Beata was played by Adler's wife Sara, Ben Abuyah's faithful friend Toivye Avyoini was played by Sigmund Mogulesko, and his daughter ( who, in the play, runs away with a Roman soldier ) by the Adlers ' daughter Frances ; in some of the last performances of the play, toward the end of Jacob Adler's career, the daughter was played by Frances younger, and eventually more famous, sister Stella.