Morevsky A (1886-1964)

Morevsky A. (1886–1964) — prominent Jewish actor and director, head of the Jewish Theatre in Riga (from August 1926).

Morevsky was a pupil of the St. Petersburg Maly Theatre. In 1910 he graduated from A. Suvorin’s Theatre School (studying together with Mikhail Chekhov). However, as a Jew and therefore lacking the right of residence in the capital, he began to tour the theatrical provinces of Russia—Vilna, Grodno, and others.

In Germany (Berlin) he appeared in films; on the stage he played Chatsky in A. Griboedov’s comedy Woe from Wit and the Actor in Maxim Gorky’s play The Lower Depths. Until 1920 he was an actor of the Russian stage. Subsequently he performed in Jewish theatres in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and other countries.

In August 1926 Morevsky agreed to take charge of the theatre in Riga, stating that the theatre’s path would not be easy and expressing confidence that it would become the kind of theatre the Jews of Latvia dreamed of. The actors of the theatre included Morevsky’s students—Sh. Blyakher, Kh. Buzgan, F. Vitalina, D. Kaizerovich, D. Shapiro, Kh. Sherman, M. Shpilberg, Yu. Yulin—as well as Kh. Brazman, A. Buzgan, Vulfson, K. Kaplan, Krasinsky, I. Kremer, G. Levita, K. Segalovich, M. Surits, Kh. Taitz, M. Tankel, D. Shapiro, Sheftel, A. Shtein, Shtr eitman, A. Eynes, and others.

The troupe of the New Jewish Theatre consisted of two groups representing parts of the Warsaw and Vilnius ensembles with which Morevsky had worked for many years. Under his leadership the troupe was distinguished by a high level of professionalism. The theatre’s repertoire was formed from plays and stage adaptations of works of Jewish and world drama (including Latvian drama): The Dybbuk by S. An-sky, Dukus by A. Katzizne, works by Sholem Aleichem, Alexandre Dumas, George Gordon Byron, as well as Benya Krik (after I. Babel), and plays by P. Hirshbein, J. Gordin, D. Pinsky, and others.

Nevertheless, Morevsky did not remain in Riga for long: in the 1927/1928 season he headed the Jewish Theatre in Kraków.

Besides Morevsky, the theatre was at various times directed by Yu. Adler, I. Breitman, R. Zaslavsky, M. Rubin, O. Runich, A. Shtein, and Yu. Yurovsky.