BaruchMayr,sonofanorthodoxrabbifromapoorshtetlinGalizia,decidestobreakwiththefamilytraditionandleavetheshtetltobecomeanactor.Duetothisbehaviourhisfatherbanshimfromhisfamily.Baruch,whojoinedasmallburlesquetroupeisdiscoveredbyanAustrianErzherzogin(archdutchess)whointroduceshimtothedirectorofthemostimportantTheaterinVienna,theBurgtheater.Baruchreceivesacontractthereandbecomesmoreandmoreanassimilatedjew.ButhisrelationwiththeErzherzoginisn’tapprovedbytheAustriancourt,sotheyhavetoendit.Whenanoldfriendofhisfather,whoisalwaystravelingfromoneJewishcommunitytothenext(andhastoldhimfirstaboutthetheatresintheworld),Baruchbecomesalittlebithomesickandreturnsforaholidaytohisoldshtetltoseehisfolksandtopickuphischildhoodsweetheart.Buthisfatherwantshimnottoenterhishouse,sohereturnstoVienna,withhisbride.Buthisoldfrienddoesnotstoptryingtoconvincehisfatherofhiserrors.—StephanEichenberg
