New Yentl stage adaptation to open in London next spring

Yentl, a new stage adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story, will make its international premiere at Marylebone Theatre next spring.

Adapted by Kadimah Yiddish Theatre, the production is set in a Polish shtetl in the 1870s and follows a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to study Jewish scripture, an education denied to her under Orthodox law. The story explores questions of faith, gender, desire and tradition as the central character pursues learning and independence.

The London season will feature three members of the original Australian cast, with Amy Hack playing Yentl, Genevieve Kingsford as Hodes and Evelyn Krape as The Figure. Kandice Joy will serve as understudy for the roles of Yentl and Hodes, with further casting to be announced.

The production premiered at Arts Centre Melbourne in 2022, returned for a second season in 2024 and later transferred to the Sydney Opera House the same year. It is the first major new stage adaptation of Singer’s story since the 1975 Broadway play and the 1983 film adaptation with Barbra Streisand.

The creative team reunites director and co-writer Gary Abrahams with co-writers Galit Klas and Elise Hearst. The design team includes set and costume designer Dann Barber and lighting designer Rachel Burke, with original composition and sound design by Max Lyandvert. The Yiddish translation is by Professor Rivke Margolis.

It will run from 6 March to 12 April 2026, with a press night scheduled for Wednesday 10 March.

Kadimah Yiddish Theatre is led by artistic director Evelyn Krape and executive director Abrahams. The company is the only contemporary bilingual Yiddish-English theatre company in Australia and traces its history back to the founding of the Kadimah cultural organisation in Melbourne in 1911. The presentation of Yentl in London forms part of the company’s 100th anniversary year of in-house productions.

The UK run is being presented and managed by Wild Yak Productions, led by Oliver King, in association with Counterminers CIC.