BUCHWALD, NATHANIEL

BUCHWALD, NATHANIEL (Naftule; 1890–1956), Yiddish theater critic. Born in Volhynia, Buchwald immigrated to New York in 1910 and studied at New York University. He contributed to various socialist publications and was on the editorial staff of the left-wing daily Frayhayt from 1922 and later contributed to the Morgn Frayhayt. In the 1920s he translated some works of leading Communist authors into Yiddish and took a deep interest in Soviet Russia. His cultural interest, however, focused on the problems of the Yiddish theater, especially in the United States, where he founded the Frayhayt Dramatic Studio, which later achieved eminence under the name Artef. His criticism tended to be both learned and emotional, and he was under fire at times from left-wing partisans for approving plays which they would have preferred him to denounce. His most important work in this field is Teater ("Theater," 1943). -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Z. Rejzen, Leksikon, 1 (1926); B. Kagan, Leksikon (1986), 72–3. (Richard F. Shepard)