After finishing his work in 1923, Aronson moved to New York City in search of new opportunities. He began working in the Lower East Side designing sets and costumes for many experimental Yiddish theatres. 9 Aronson worked at a variety of theatres and never really found a home, as he embraced the freelance lifestyle. However, in 1926, he achieved fame amongst the Jewish Community when he designed Maurice Schwartz’s revival of Abraham Goldfaden’s The Tenth Commandment. 10 The production was extremely successful and sold out the Yiddish Art Theatre regularly.
Boris Aronson’s set design for the revival of The Tenth Commandment in 1926
Aronson continued to work at Schwartz’ Yiddish Art Theatre until the 1930s when he began to fear that his work was being considered a form of ghettoization. 11 Aronson vowed to share his gift of creativity and passion with not just the Jewish community, but also all of American theatre. In 1932, Aronson’s designs debuted on Broadway with the revival of Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg’s Walk a Little Faster. 12 Throughout the 1930s, Aronson found a home at the Group Theatre, where most of the plays performed were forceful, and naturalistic. 13 He also worked at the Radio City Music Hall during the Great Depression, doing designs for many theatre and musical acts. Aronson easily fit into this style of theatre due to his exposure to Stanislavski in his upbringing; no one person was above another, all performances were “Group” efforts. While at the Group Theatre, Aronson worked closely with Clifford Odets and Irwin Shaw, to design a variety of productions.14
Awake and Sing! (1935) by Cliff Odets at the Belasco Theatre. Set by Boris Aronson.
Notes
9 Yiddish Theatres consist of plays written and performed by Jewish people in Yiddish. It was very popular in New York before World War II.
10 Maurice Schwartz (1889 – 1960) was a famous Ukrainian-born actor and director in the early 20th century. He founded the Yiddish Art Theater in New York City in 1918.
11 Ghettoization is the fear that one’s work will be isolated to a specific place, or group.
12 Vernon Duke (1903 – 1969) and Yip Harburg (1896 – 1981) were famous American composers and songwriter, who specialized in musicals during the 1900s.
13 Group Theatre (1931) was a New York City theater founded with mindset of producing naturalistic plays that challenged the audience.
14 Cliff Odets (1906 – 1963) and Irwin Shaw (1913 – 1984) were American playwrights who are famed for their contributions to American literature, and productions on Broadway in the 1900s.
Boris Aronson 