Old Love

A Play in Two Acts, Based on Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story, “Sam Palka and David Vishkover”

Written and adapted by the author

First published in Yiddish in Di goldene keyt in 1973 as “Eyn emese libe (One True Love),” and one year later in English in The New Yorkeras “Sam Palka and David Vishkover,” Singer’s story of a Park Avenue millionaire living a double life formed the basis for his original play, Old Love. Unlike the story, however, the play incorporates a variety of characters and social issues including art and literature, polyamory, sexual orientation, and generation gaps. The result is a multilayered dramatic work that questions what it means to be original.

“’Sam Palka and David Vishkover’ is one of the most provocative short fictions of the last decade. . . . In the illumination of the ordinary, in the acuity of his observations, Singer is sounding a theme that has not been heard in a hundred years.”
—TIME Magazine on the original story