Moshe Yassur is a longtime collaborator with the New Yiddish Rep, having directed their acclaimed productions of Waiting for Godot and Death of a Salesman, and he is at the helm of their latest work, a true-to-the-original production of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros.

As you can see in our interview, this longtime theater maker seems to be about two things -- the theater and Yiddish culture -- so the company and artist are really a match made in heaven. Make sure to read to the end, as some really cool details of his history came out right as we were finishing

How has the run been going?

Good! Very good.

You have been working with the New Yiddish Rep for how long now?

Ah, for maybe, eh, seven to eight years. Five or six productions with them. I’ve done Waiting for Godot and Death of a Salesman, which was nominated by Drama Desk Award, so this is my fifth production with them.

So why did you choose to direct Rhinoceros, the Ionesco play?

Well David Mandelbaum [company artistic director] came up with the idea, and I embraced it, and this is how it started. It’s a very interesting play, it’s against all the, how do I say it? The, yes, conformism, and Jews were always against conformism.

So you see a pointed political, Jewish element to the production?

Absolutely, Ionesco, all his work is political. Ionesco’s work, all the plays of Ionesco are political plays. And I do not see any theater that is not political. All theater, I think all theater is political.

Do you think that this play is particularly appropriate for the Yiddish Theater and if so why do you think so?

Well, this play is appropriate for any, any theater, with a universal view, and any, any theater should take this subject on, and the Jews are not exception. And in fact, New Yiddish Rep is doing classical and modern theater, so we did Waiting for Godot in Yiddish, which was very well received, that people could see here in this country and in Ireland, at a festival, and in France, which was very well received, so I don’t see why Yiddish would not be a vehicle for modern theater and classic theater.

Is there a way that you think the Yiddish language expresses this play in a cool way or in a unique way, is there a way the play is highlighted because it is performed in Yiddish?

Well, what is unique about Yiddish is that the Jewish people, the Yiddish language has always suffered from the downtrodden -- hmm, how would I say, how would I put it? -- people who were completely downtrodden, and also people who were lacking the right to lift up their heads and say what they wanted to say. All around history, the Jews were repressed, so this way, Ionesco pointed out the way that the repressed people and the people who are not conformist to the norms, are suffering.

The metaphor of the rhinoceros was so appropriate for the moment in France at the time, all the way down to the green constantly referenced in the play [the color of the animal and the clothing worn by fascist sympathizers]. Do you think the rhinoceros the appropriate metaphor for this moment?

You are absolutely right, what you said, as the metaphor, and it’s a metaphor that fits the times, and it fits all the times. Up to the Second World War, Ionesco and Beckett could not write the way theater had been written up and before the Second World War. So you have to understand that Ionesco and Beckett have been very much impressed by the cataclysm and what happened during the Second World War. Now, the rhinocerization of people — that is not a new thing. People were always resigned in two categories: beasts and humans.

What do you think about Yiddish Theater in the 21st century? Of course it has a great history, but where do you think Yiddish Theater is going?

Well, we hope it’s going in the right direction, it’s going towards a renaissance, especially in the movies there is a renaissance, there are a whole slew of Yiddish films, and you see prizes, and very interesting productions, and the theater, there are two Yiddish Theater’s in New York City, including the New Yiddish Rep, and we are trying very, very hard to revive the Yiddish culture and the Yiddish language.

Do you get a lot of young Yiddish speakers coming to the productions?

It’s very interesting, our audience is a mix of older people, and especially young people. Our actors are young actors, Yiddish speaking actors, especially many who have come from the Hasidic neighborhoods, and they have tasted from the culture of secular art, and they are enjoying to be with us, and we are creating a whole new aspect for the Jewish people in New York City!

That is so fantastic. Let’s get back to Rhinoceros for a second. Do you think that this production will have a renaissance due to this political moment, are you picking up something from this political moment? Or was this a play you wanted to do, that happens to align with this political moment?

I know exactly what you are aiming at. But I would like to refrain from pointing out in details, but always Ionesco had always pointed the way towards the past, and the future, and the present, and while all his work, as I said, is a political work, and is relevant to every, every aspect of our life.

Yes. You know one of the very funny parts of the play is when the protagonist Berenger says, “I have feel like we’ve had an entire marriage in 20-minutes,” and I thought that was performed particularly well. So I wanted to know how do you work with actors specifically? Would you work with actors that aren’t new to secular culture any differently?

Well I direct the Yiddish actors like I direct all the actors. So this time it was very easy to direct, it was very easy, because they were very enthusiastic, and very eager to really interpret the works of a great writer, a modern writer, and they were really eager to listen. And they are doing a great job! Have you seen the show?

I did I saw it last weekend.

Beautiful, I’m glad you saw it! So you know what I’m talking about.

I do, absolutely. Do you have any particular approach when you work with actors?

No, I don’t have a particular approach, I have no philosophy of acting, I try to serve, especially, the play and the author. I don’t try to do a work that is away from the author's wishes.

I bet Ionesco appreciates that. And it was a really lovely production, thank you so much, Moshe, any last thing you want to say about the production?

Thank you very much, and I want to tell you that this is not my first encounter with Ionesco. I worked with Ionesco, and with Jean-Marie Serreau, the director who was responsible for launching Ionesco, and Beckett.

Yeah. Wait. Personally?

So, I know them very well, so I hope it comes through.

Pardon me, Moshe, you worked with them personally, back when you were, back in the day?

I worked with them personally, I worked, I was an assistant to Jean-Marie Serra for three years in Paris.

Tell me about that, please tell me about that.

Well, I was in Paris in the 60s. ’61, ’64. As a recipient of a scholarship from the French government, and as such, I was an assistant to Jean-Marie Serreau, in which I met Ionesco and I met Beckett. So we worked together for three years. I was assistant to Amédée, Ionesco’s Amédée, and a second play.

Moshe, that’s fantastic. That’s a fantastic play.

And also Beckett’s play, the world premier of Comédie, which Jean-Marie Serreau adopted at The Louvre, and The Louvre gave him a room to do the play, and it was marvelous! We went to the entrance, passing by Mona Lisa and say “Hello Madame!” And we went to rehearsal. And I met with Beckett, and believe me, I was so in awe of him, I didn’t even talk to him, I couldn’t, and I just looked at him admiringly. (laughs)

(Laughs) I would be awestruck as well.

Of course, I was a young man, in my twenties at that time.

Do you feel like you’re continuing on a legacy for that reason? Clearly, for Yiddish Theater, your continuing on the legacy from the East Village, but do you feel like you’re continuing on the legacy of these absurd theater makers?

Yes, the Yiddish Theater has a very strong life. Left a legacy of dramatic literature which is second to none. Will stand with any dramatic theater universal to the world, any in the world.