Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

AT THE OPERA 137

When there is unemployment in the diamond industry, polishers who are out of work sometimes spend an afternoon at the Tsip Tsop to pass away the time. However, on one such afternoon an urgent message can be delivered at their home from someone from the factory. "Lady, they want your husband to come directly because the boss has some work for him."

Ma hurries to the Tsip Tsop. She tells Hes "I have to see my husband at once. He can get work."

She is let in and Hes walks with a torch in his hand along the rows of seats. The woman walks alongside him, right until she has found her husband. Nobody in the audience objects. On the contrary, where in the whole world will you find a theatre that so takes into account the dailv cares of its customers? Of course, this can lead to awkward situations. For instance, when a woman, accompanied by Hes goes looking for her husband and finds him holding hands in the dark with the neighbours wife.

Highlights in the life of the Tsip Tsop are the films with a Jewish topic. They make a deep impression and people talk about them for years. Dybuk, the Polish-Jewish film, Yidd'l mit de Fidd'l, and the film which Uncle Joseph had made specially for showing at the Tsip Tsop theatre, the film Simche and Tsuris,Joy and Sorrow...