“Shterna and the Lost Voice is the debut theatrical project of the Magid Ensemble, a collective of young artists who have assembled to create an immersive multimedia storytelling performance that builds on themes and images from Eastern European Jewish folklore. Drawing into question boundaries between adult and children’s literary genres, the piece deftly addresses its audiences through the experience of wonder. The crowd at a performance of Shterna sits in the dark being told a story, conjuring the feeling world of childhood. The signatory elements of the performance are klezmer music, storytelling and the crankie, a hand powered scrolling visual storytelling machine. Directly addressing the audience, Shterna references the experience of fairy tales and of homiletics. The dance of light and dark that illuminates the storytelling scroll plays on associations of ritual candles and the half-light of childhood bedtime memories.”

“Shterna & The Lost Voice is a wondrous journey through today’s new landscapes of Yiddishland — deeply rooted in traditional tale and music yet written and performed in a trailblazing 21st-century voice. It’s a complete work of art in all its aspects: the riveting storytelling and plot, the heart-stopping, crystalline original score by three musicians who work together like family, the marvelous, old-new arts of the papercut and wooden crankie scroll leading us through the fiery, glowing terrain of epic and dreamtime. Shterna is a triumph of both art and craft, at once timeless and completely of the moment. It’s one of the finest pieces of performance of any genre I’ve ever seen.” 

– Michael Alpert, NEA National Heritage Fellow & Yiddish cultural scholar