Anatevka, a small village somewhere in the borderlands of western Russia, shortly before the October Revolution. Jews and Russians live here together - but alongside one another instead of with each other. The Tsar is far away, but his power is ever-present. It is here that Tevye lives, between the eras, a poor Jewish dairy merchant who is father to three daughters of marriageable age. His faith and the Jewish traditions, according to which he works, lives and loves, shape the outlines of his life. But whenever his daughters’ happiness is at stake, he decides against tradition and for the love of his daughters. But the turn of time leaves no room for this claim to love and happiness, because the Russian Empire does not want Jewish life within its borders: pogroms and Tsarist decrees force Tevye and his family out of their beloved home village of Anatevka. Their future is uncertain.
This plot based on which Jerry Bock created a musical in 1964 and that remains a worldwide success today, has a depressing relevance in the face of the Russian-Ukrainian war. With sentimental and exuberant melodies, touching moments and a good pinch of black humour, the Fiddler on the Roof has won the people's hearts. Nonetheless, it celebrates Jewish life as a paradigm of resistance, aspiration to personal happiness and the gift of facing even hard times with humour.
Further information
Tickets for all performances can be purchased for € 18 (concessions € 10) from the performers and the Scharfe bookshop, or at the box office.
Contact at the University of Greifswald
UMD Harald Braun
University Music Director
Department of Sacred Music and Musicology
Bahnhofstrasse 48/49, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 3507 or 420 3521 (Office)
harald.braununi-greifswaldde