You say bagel, I say beigel. Who’s right?

The Yiddish Theatre Troupe is the coming together of Yiddish historians with both professional and amateur actors to explore the heritage of this rich and almost forgotten world. One of the directors is television comic David Schneider, who had family in the Yiddish Theatre. Comedienne Rachel Creeger is another member of the 20-strong troupe, which also includes one native, ex-Charedi Yiddish speaker.

“From the 1880s to the 1950s, mainly in the East End of London, there was Yiddish everywhere and it was a very vibrant culture,” says Vivi Lachs, a historian of the Jewish East End and one of the founders of the group. “People were gossiping in Yiddish, publishing in Yiddish and watching these incredible plays in Yiddish theatres. There was no TV, of course, so the theatre was where the drama happened. The troupes would be changing their repertoire every week.

“A lot of people look to New York as a place where there was that strong Yiddish background, but it was right here too.”

There’s a touch of nostalgia to the idea of bringing back Yiddish culture, but Lachs herself is not nostalgic about the lives that were being led. “The people who came here speaking Yiddish were poor, they lived in slums and worked in sweatshops and bakeries. But the important thing is that it is our culture, this was our start, this is where we were before we went from working class to middle class.”

The theatre group has had some initial money thanks to Yiddish academic Sonia Gollance and UCL where she works. In June they had their first open workshop at the university, in which they featured some scenes from Yiddish plays – with translations – and a Yiddish slanging match.

“Afterwards I did an impact study with both the audience and the performers and it was terribly moving,” says Lachs. “For the actors it had connected their professional work with their histories, and they said that this in their background, which had never been expressed before, had suddenly come forward. And they found it both healing and exciting. They felt this relationship with their ancestors and it was really lovely.”

The troupe is now aiming to put on their first full-scale performance. They are also backing a Yiddish Audio Project for people interested in learning more about the language and having it recorded – there is due to be a workshop with David Schneider next month.

Meanwhile, as to that perennial question over whether its bagel or beigel, the answer is both – according to Lachs.

“The Yiddish speakers had different accents,” she explains. “A lot of the Lithuanians who ended up either in the North of the UK, or moving onto America, called them bagels. While the people who came from Poland, Galicia and the Ukraine, who were in general poorer, mainly ended up in London and their accent was beigel. But because more of the Lithuanians ended up in America and called them bagels, that had a big influence on how it is described.”

So there you have it – showbiz and the answer to one of the biggest rows in our community in one column.

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For more information on the troupe and the Yiddish Audio Project email trust@yiddishcafe.com