**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**
Fiddler on the Roof is a classical musical, from 1964, set in the Pale of Settlement Russia in or around 1905. The plot revolves around Tevye, the milkman and his family, as they reside in the Jewish village of Anatevka. More than anything Fiddler is most commonly known for its rich depictions of Jewish culture and tradition, showcasing the inner workings of a Jewish family during this specific time and place in history.
As I began reading the script and researching further into the time, place, and themes of the show, I began to draw parallels to the treatment of the Jewish characters in the show, and the subsequent final scene, to other times and places in history. This annexation of people from their homes has happened over and over again throughout all of history, some due to war based on religious discrimination or warped ideologies, some due to aggressive expansions of land ownership of an incoming people or neighboring country, and some even more due to classism, sexuality, race, etc.
Each time that we see these humanitarian crises, of humans being forced from their homes due to no fault of their own, we are seeing and experiencing what the characters of Fiddler have been forced to go through.
Fiddler has always been known and identified as a story about Tradition, but I challenge you to view it instead as about the Destruction of Tradition. Tradition is always ‘destroyed’ in some way - whether it is done away with due to its inability to adapt to changing times or modified to continue serving a different purpose. However, there is another, more tragic way Tradition is destroyed - through force. When people are forcibly removed from their homes, it leads to the destruction of property, family, and community but, most importantly the destruction of Tradition, of history, of culture.
Fiddler is so much more than a snapshot of a Jewish family in the Pale of Settlement ending in a Pogrom, it is a warning tale of what happens when we force our fellow humans out of their homes. Yet, it is a final message of hope that as humans we never stop trying, we never stop believing that we will one day know peace, and we never stop living our lives even though we might be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.
Director
Caitlin Webster
