Der Got Fun Nekomeh [“The God of Vengeance.”]

ASCH, SHOLEM.

Tsukunft

Vilna

1907

FIRST EDITION. Text in Yiddish.

First edition of likely, the most controversial Yiddish play ever written or performed. The first Yiddish work to positively depict a lesbian relationship. “An astonishing forerunner for sexual freedom.” First performed in Russia-Poland in 1918, the play was taken to Germany by Max Reinhardt where it was staged at the celebrated Deutsches Theater, Berlin. When it ran (in English) on Broadway in New York in 1923, the entire cast was arrested for obscenity. It closed after that single performance. Entitled “Indecent,” the play was recently revived, see http://forward.com/the-assimilator/341302/sholem-aschs-scandalous-god-of-vengeance-to-get-yiddish-rep-revival/.