by the middle of the 1930 theatrical season, the managers of the remaining nine new york theaters threatened to close if there was not a dramatic percent cut in hebrew actors' union personnel salaries, which were significantly higher than non-union members. the union threatened to strike but the theater managers kept to their promise and, starting on december 8, 1930, the theaters closed for two weeks. the union was forced to cut its salary scale and to waive its power to set a quota for actors for every theater for the duration of the season, but it was not enough. tensions between the union and the theater managers continued to increase at the same time that the yiddish theater audience continued to wane. more theaters closed, fewer productions were staged and yiddish-language actors struggled to find enough work to support themselves.