PURIM PLAYS. Known in standard Yiddish as purimshpiln (sg., purimshpil), the Purim plays, presented during the holiday of Purim, were the most common form of folk drama among eastern and western Jews up until the Holocaust. The earliest written accounts of such plays are from the middle of the sixteenth century. They describe single-actor performances in Yiddish of purimshpiln based on nonbiblical themes that took place in Venice, Italy, and Brest (in Belarus). In the eighteenth century, more full-fledged plays with troupe performances were produced in various communities by yeshivah students, musicians, artisans, and apprentices; they were enacted in synagogues and in the homes of the well-to-do, where the actors received small sums of money. Examples of especially popular biblical stories that were performed were those of Esther and Ahasuerus (main characters in the Book of Esther), Joseph and his brothers, the binding of Isaac, and...