Yentl the Yeshiva Boy on BBC R4

It was an absolute pleasure to appear as Shloime in a radio adaptation of Yentl by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Dramatised by Kerry Shale, and wonderful to record at BBC Birmingham with an amazing cast and crew (including a foley artist!)

Poland 1872. A Jewish shtetl. In her heart, sixteen year-old Yentl knows she will never be a wife and mother. Her father reluctantly allows her to join him in morning prayers because, he tells her, Yentl has "the soul of a man". When he dies, she crosses the line. In order to continue her Bible studies, a practice forbidden to Jewish women, she dons her father's clothes and takes to the road as Anshel, a young man in search of a religious seminary. A universal tale of spiritual and gender liberation.

Yentl ..... ..........................Olivia Marcus
Avigdor .......................... Richard Fleeshman
Singer/Vishkower ..... Kerry Shale
Mrs Vishkower ........... Debbie Chazen
Hadass .......................... Jennifer Hulman
Shloime ........................ Robert Neumark Jones
Kalman ..... ....................Alex Zur
Prof Blue/Rabbi ......... Hamilton Berstock

Production Co-ordinator - Vicky Moseley
Technical Producer - Tony Wass
Studio Manager - Vanessa Nutall
Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet
Religious Advisor - Rachel Creeger
Director/Producer - Gary Brown

Kerry Shale and director Gary Brown first met as young actors when they were appearing as Yeshiva students in the 1982 movie 'Yentl'. They shared some of their memories on 'The Film Programme' in 2019.