The new musical "Soviet Zion" is set in an obscure region of the former Soviet Union known as Birobidzhan, an area of Siberia that was set aside in the 1920's as a homeland for Russian Jewry. It was Stalin's response to Zionism, which the Stalinist govornment at the time found enormously threatening: fearing that the several million Jews in Russia would turn their back on the Motherland in favour of Zionism, the Kremlin set about establishing Birobidzhan as an alternative Jewish homeland; a secular Yiddish state, as opposed to the religiously motivated Hebrew state of Zion. This happened many years before the State of Israel was actualised, making the JAR (Jewish Autonomous Region, otherwise known as Birobidzhan) the first Jewish homeland in modern times.

 

 

The story of the new musical "Soviet Zion" looks at how the lives of three very different families who settle there intertwine.

To navigate your way through this website to find multimedia, cast biographies etc, please use the links at the top of this page.

Establishing the JAR and Birobidzhan never was quite the success that many had hoped it would be, nevertheless it still exists today - a forgotten homeland tucked away on the border between Siberia and China. Most of the thousands of people who moved there out of the Ghettos and Stetls in the name of Soviet Yiddish Agriculturalism in support of the new state ideology moved straight back to whence they came, though some still stayed and battled through the terrible Siberian conditions and the many curious dramas wrought by history.

The musical Soviet Zion looks at the struggle for identity and belonging, the quest for a homeland, and human hope in the face of extreme adversity. The  A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative founded by the show's composers following their previous writing project Turkish Delight the Opera presented the world debut showcase of SOVIET ZION on October 19th in an hour-long special at The Rosemary Branch Theatre as part of the Branching Out festival, starring the show's composers and also Arabella Rodrigo, Julia Buckley, and Nancy Hill. You can watch video footage of this show elsewhere here in this site.

 

The show recently took part in the Paideia Project Incubator

in the mean time, we are especially interested in hearing from any individuals or organisations with an interest in the topics of this show, who may be interested in offering their support to the project's future.

 Please use the links at the top of the page to navigate your way through this site, where you can hear live and studio sound recordings, and also see video footage of the show's recent preview performance.