HOW DID I START DOING THEATRE IN JUDEO-SPANISH
Description: Fani Bonofiyel rembers how she joined the theatre company twenty years ago. She relates, with enthusiasm and pride, the several trips she made in Israel and Turkey with the theatre company. She continues, mentioning the importance of performing in Judeo-Spanish, a language that she appreciates a lot, and she laments the fact that Judeo-Spanish has a reduced standing, not only because it is spoken less, but also because those who do speak it do so poorly. She expresses her frustration that the language is not being passed on to the next generations. Finally, Fani mentions her efforts in translating the plays into Turkish in order to animate and motivate younger generations to attend the theatre.
Cite as: Kómo empesí a ǧugwar teátro en ǧudéo-españól – How did I start doing theatre in Judeo-Spanish; performer: Fani Bonofiyel, camera/ interview: Ioana Aminian, transcription/ translation: Ioana Aminian, Deyvi Papo, Imane Sghiouar, editor: Imane Sghiouar, retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID-number: ladi1251TRV0011a.
HOW DO WE MAKE THEATRE IN LADINO?
Description: Jojo Eshkenazi explains in this video how he started making plays in Judeo-Spanish and how the language preferences have changed over time. In the beginning the plays were mainly in Judeo-Spanish but gradually it changed so that they were almost exclusively in Turkish, with some inserts in Ladino. He also gives an insight into his creative process, where he emphasizes that his sources of inspiration are really stories that could occur in any Turkish-Jewish home. Furthermore, he talks about the plays and their topics which became popular in the Jewish community over the past few years.
Cite as: Kómo azémos teátro en ladíno? - How do we make theatre in Ladino?; performer: Jojo Eshkenazi, interview: Ioana Aminian, camera: Deyvi Papo, transcription/ translation: Ioana Aminian, Deyvi Papo, Imane Sghiouar, editor: Deyvi Papo, retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID-number: ladi1251TRV0014a.
REVIVING THE LANGUAGE WITH THEATRE
Description: Forti Barokas, a champion of amateur theatre, begins the interview by telling us about the challenges involved in reviving Judeo-Spanish through theatre plays. She made her debut in 1983 when the plays depicted Jewish life at the time. In the beginning, Judeo-Spanish was the predominant language of the plays; however, slowly, they had to come up with strategies of code-switching with Turkish in order to adapt to the fact that fewer and fewer people were able to understand their play. Furthermore, she recalls her experiences in travelling to Spain, as well as reflecting on the connection she felt to the place. Forti completes this interview fragment by telling us about her involvement in the Jewish community, her efforts to support the elderly and expands on the challenges of making theatre under budgetary and logistic constraints.
Cite as: Arebiƀírla léngwa kon el teátro – Reviving the language with theatre; performer: Forti Barokas, camera/ interview: Ioana Aminian, transcription/ translation: Ioana Aminian, Deyvi Papo, Imane Sghiouar, editor: Deyvi Papo, retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID-number: ladi1251TRV0023a.
WHAT WILL I LEAVE BEHIND?
Description: Soli Avigdor recounts a number of memories from a childhood spent in Edirne, elucidating on the historical, cultural and social background of the time. She relates how she started an initiative of performing amateur theatres in Judeo-Spanish which she initiated alone before later performing in groups. She also reflects on her international success and the recognition she received with her plays. The details and process of making amateur theatre are a valuable documentation of a wide-spread phenomenon among Jews, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. Soli concludes the interview by explaining the meaning of these initiatives in terms of her personal fulfilment.
Cite as: Kwálo va keđáɾ de mi? – What will I leave behind?; performer: Soli Avigdor, camera/ interview: Ioana Aminian, transcription/ translation: Ioana Aminian, Deyvi Papo, Imane Sghiouar, editor: Deyvi Papo, retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID-number: ladi1251TRV0044a.