Israeli Theatre

The article attempts to depict the experience of melancholy in family dramas by an Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin. With regard to their themes Levin’s domestic comedies can be divided into dramas of ‘lonely hearts’, ‘family relationships’, and ‘neighborhood’. What is common to these three groups of dramas is the gallery of the same personae – melancholy men: depressed, detached subjects, deprived of any possibility of symbolization.
Firstly, melancholy appears to be a general condition of the depicted world; secondly, it is deeply related to the inner dramas of personae of the drama – their embodiment and their perception of the world. The condition of male and female characters in Levin’s domestic comedies is determined by the longing for the past and the sadness of passive existence.
The basic purpose of the article is to provide an analysis of the selected issues in the context of psychoanalytical readings of melancholy, especially Sigmund Freud’s as well Julia Kristeva’s works. This perspective allows to elucidate the melancholic condition of dramatis personae, and also to describe some complicated relationships between them (especially the relation between mother-figure and the son).

Yoldot is a docu-poetic performance that critically presents the affair of the abduction of Jewish children from families that immigrated primarily from Yemen in the 1950s. Facilitated by the healthcare system, the abducted children were put up for illegal adoption. Yoldot frames the events as less of an exception and more a regular phenomenon enabled by the overall orientalist and racist nature of the Israeli medical system. (if you want the article please send me an email [email protected])

This M.A. thesis discusses the theatrical staging of Talmudic and Rabbinic literature, analyzing their interpretive nature and dialogic qualities

המושגים תיאטרון ויהדות נתפסים פעמים רבות כעומדים בניגוד זה לזה. חיבור זה מבקש לערער על תפיסה זו בהראותו את העושר המתקיים בסינתזה בין ספרות יהודית פרשנית להצגות בז'אנר תיאטרון-סיפור. המחקר מתבסס על ניתוח הצגות, ראיונות אישיים עם יוצרים ושילוב תיאוריות מתחום התיאטרון, הספרות, הפילוסופיה, הסוציולוגיה וחקר התלמוד. באמצעות מקורות אלו בוחנת העבודה מדגם של ארבע הצגות המעלות מדרשי-אגדה בטכניקות תיאטרון-סיפור, ומראה כיצד מבנה ההצגות אלו מונע מבחירה מודעת לחיבור בין תוכן וצורה. הצגות אלו משיבות למדרשים את איכות מסירתם האורלית, ודרכן מודגש המעשה הפרשני הפורש מצע להצגת ריבוי קולות. מופעים תיאטרוניים אלו מראים כיצד עולמות בית המדרש והתיאטרון לא רק שאינם סותרים זה לזה, כפי שנטען, אלא אף משלימים, מעשירים ומחיים זה את זה.

Yoldot is a docu-poetic performance that critically presents the affair of the abduction of Jewish children from families that immigrated primarily from Yemen in the 1950s. Facilitated by the healthcare system, the abducted children were put up for illegal adoption. Yoldot frames the events as less of an exception and more a regular phenomenon enabled by the overall orientalist and racist nature of the Israeli medical system.

Allusions to Henrik Ibsen’s plays in the works of two prominent Israeli modernist writers, Amos Oz’s autobiographical A Tale of Love and Darkness (2004) and David Grossman’s The Zigzag Kid (1994) examined in the context of the Israeli reception of Ibsen in the 1950s and 1960s. To establish the variety of meanings Ibsen’s plays had for the audiences of the Habimah production of Peer Gynt in 1952 and The Kameri production of Hedda Gabler in 1966, this article draws on newspaper reviews and actors’ memoirs, as well as providing an analysis of Leah Goldberg’s translation of Peer Gynt. It emerges that both authors enlisted Ibsen in their exploration of the myths surrounding the formation of Israeli nationhood and identity

This article addresses monetary, cultural, political and religious transactions, exchanges, conversions and translations between Jews and non-Jews in the play, “The Merchant of Venice,” in relation with Hebrew performances of the play and their social and political contexts. The article examines Leopold Jessner’s production from 1936, Tyrone Guthrie production from 1959, Yossi Izae’li’s production from 1972, and Hanan Snir’s production from 1995 (both in Israel and in Germany). The discussion will address various facets of the complicated intercultural relations that the Merchant of Venice has come to symbolize to Hebrew speaking audiences.

The 2011 Israeli protest for social justice marked a change in the responses of Israeli citizens to political and social matters. The ways in which art and social change intersected during the protest, and the emergence of art collectives following the events, call for an understanding of the relation between art and politics in Israel. This article suggests an alternative reading of socially engaged art in Israel. To this end, I use Félix Guattari's notion of 'transversality' and Jacques Rancière's theory on the 'aesthetic regime' to highlight significant periods where art and politics have intersected in ways that have challenged Israeli art historiography, often neutralizing the political within an artwork. By using a theoretical framework that emphasizes notions of hybridity and the blurring of boundaries, I make new connections between times, places, and practices that go beyond the binaries of center and periphery, mainstream and alternative , and aesthetics and politics.

Abstract Dennis Kennedy deals with the issue of constructing spectators’ subjectivity, suggesting the term ‘audience gestures’ to explain the complicated behaviour of spectators and focusing on the active bodily dimension of reception (e.g., applause, cheering, booing, hissing). In his view, audience gestures construct the subjectivity of the spectators in terms of social and cultural identities, though they depend on the ‘horizon of expectations’ – the sociopolitical, cultural and aesthetical baggage of the audience. In contrast, this article argues that it is the performance that mostly directs and even programmes audience gestures, which in turn construct the spectators’ subjectivity or identity. By way of exemplifying how the ‘horizon of expectations’ directs the ‘audience gestures,’ this article will discuss audience behaviour in two Israeli theatrical productions – one dealing with secular Jewish identity, the other with Mizrhai ethnic identity – in terms of constructed social identities.

In 1998, in Ramle, Israel, directors Oshrat Mizrahi-Shapira, a Mizrahi 1 Jewish woman, and Yussef Swed, an Arab man, established a community-theatre group 2 of Jews and Arabs that created and performed three productions over the next five years. Here? Now? Love?, the first performance of the group, was constructed as a retrospective journey through the memories of Tamar, a Mizrahi woman and Amir, an Arab man, who meet after many years and remember their love story—cut short because of their different nationality and religion. 3 They meet again when Amir comes to inherit the abandoned house of his family and discovers that his ex-lover, Tamar, has moved into the house after running away from her oppressive and violent husband. This particular play exemplifies the development and emergence of a social and theatrical site for dialogue between Arabs and Mizrahis about their social and political identities. The two other productions of this group are Ramle Beach (2001) and The Rich Man Dies of Laughter (2003). The former largely avoids dealing with the Arab–Israeli conflict, and the latter touches allegorically on political issues, but keeps away from definitive statements. The first play, on the other hand, attempts a realistic design, which signifies an attempt to cope with the political conflicts more directly. My awareness of this ensemble group and its projects derives from my position as an Israeli-born Mizrahi man, whose parents immigrated in 1951 from Iraq and Iran to Israel. As a teenager, I joined the community theatre in my neighborhood in south Tel Aviv, which is considered to be socioeconomically disadvantaged. One of the significant experiences in this theatre community was the development of my sensitivity and consciousness to the connection between the social and political aspects of my life and their articulations in the theatrical event. Currently, as a theatre researcher, I have a personal, professional, and political interest in community theatre as bottom-up practice for empowerment of subordinated groups, which use it to express and challenge their marginalized identities. Israeli community theatre is quite often a site that meets and confronts nationality, ethnic-ity, and gender (Lev-Aladgem 2003, 2008). This junction of identities is especially evident in this group that includes Mizrahi Jews and Arabs; the two communities live together in Ramle, an underprivileged city in the center of the country. This theatre group confronted three political and social conflicts that, from the Zionist viewpoint, are not normally discussed together: the national, the ethnic, and the gender-oriented. The Zionist discourse has two main arguments that are relevant to this analysis. First, the land of Israel (Eretz-Israel) belongs only to the Jewish nation, and it is an exclusive ownership. This means that Arabs have no national rights to the land. And second, the Zionist discourse has tried to constitute a new, uniform Jewish identity for all Jews who have immigrated to Israel, an identity designed according to Western secular cultural standards. This effort has largely erased many of the Jewish cultural traditions, especially the non-European ones that were developed over hundreds of years. As I detail later, these arguments promote rejection of

In 2001, for the first time, an Arabic-language performance by Jewish
actors was performed for a Jewish audience that did not deal with the
Israeli-Arabic conflict. This article’s aim is to discuss how JewishMoroccan ethnic identity is fashioned through Jewish-Moroccan theatre in Israel through three main aspects: 1) Production and lack of public subsidy. The Jewish-Moroccan theatre is positioned on the margins of Israeli theatre, is perceived as amateurish by the tastemakers and gatekeepers of the theatre field, and is therefore not eligible for a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture. Although commercial logic leads the Jewish-Moroccan theatre, its producers identify with its communal
goals as well as the creation of an empowering ethnic identity on
stage. 2) Repertoire. The productions are realized in popular theatre
style and use nostalgia to appeal to Moroccan Jewry, which is incompatible with the Zionist narrative. 3) Reception. Engagement with the performance by the Jewish-Moroccan audience is very active, pointing to a celebration of its identity, culture, and language, as well as a protest against the hegemonic mainstream. Theatre is perceived in Israel as a ‘white space’ belonging to the middle-class, Ashkenazi Jewish hegemony. The spectators of Jewish-Moroccan theatre ‘darken’ the ‘white space’ by transgressing received Western audience-behavior.

סדנת חיפה לפרפורמנס היא ארוע אקדמי שמטרתו לעודד דיון בין ענפיהם המגוונים של מדעי החברה לבין חקר אמנויות המופע, באמצעות בחינת נתיבי ואופני הנדידה והפעולה של המושג "פרפורמנס". אנו מזמינות חוקרים וחוקרות מתחומי ידע שונים, לרבות תלמידי תואר שני ושלישי, לשיח על אודות "פרפורמנס" כקונספט מארגן וככלי אנליטי, על האתגרים התיאורטיים שמציע המושג "פרפורמנס", על ביטוייו וגילויו האסתטיים, האתנוגרפיים, המגדריים, החברתיים והפוליטיים.
החיבור התיאורטי בין אנתרופולוגיה לאמנויות המופע, הגיע לשיאו בארצות הברית בפרק הזמן שבין סוף שנות השבעים לראשית שנות השמונים. מתוך חיבור זה התגבשו "לימודי פרפורמנס" (Performance Studies) כשדה ידע שמתמקד בתופעות תרבותיות ומופעים אמנותיים תחת אותו ארסנל של כלים תיאורטיים. באמצעות המושג "פרפורמנס" הפך החיבור בין אסתטיקה למדעי החברה למודל ללימוד גילומים מגוונים של מבנים סימבוליים ובתוך כך, נטוותה רשת של מושגים, כמו למשל: נרטיב, תיאטרליות, משחקיות, שחקנים חברתיים ודרמה חברתית, אשר התייצבו כעקרונות מובילים בחשיבה על תרבות. חשיבותה של ג'סטה, תנועה במרחב, קול, מופעים תלויי מקום והקשר, הן רק כמה דוגמאות בודדות למגמה זו.
סדנת המחקר "פרפורמנס כיצרן ידע" תאפשר לנו לשאול אילו סוגי ידע מיוצרים דרך "פרפורמנס"? מתוך דיון רב-תחומי, נבקש לבחון מחדש את המרחב הדיסציפלינרי הרחב והלא תחום של "לימודי פרפורמנס", כמו גם להתמודד עם יצירתיות ומופע, בהקשר אמנותי או חברתי, כתופעות תרבותיות המתממשות במרחב. כמפגש בין-תחומי, הסדנה מבקשת לעודד דיאלוג בין תחומי ידע המסווגים במערכת האקדמית כנפרדים—תחת הקטגוריות של מדעי החברה ומדעי הרוח—באמצעות בחינה ביקורתית של ארגז הכלים התיאורטי והאתנוגרפי לחקר פרפורמנס.
חוקרים וחוקרות, לרבות תלמידים לתארים מתקדמים, מוזמנים להגיש הצעות להצגת מחקרים אשר בוחנים היבטים אמנותיים, תרבותיים וחברתיים של המושג "פרפורמנס" על הקשריו הרחבים והרב תחומיים. הצעות (בהיקף של עד 250 מילים בעברית או באנגלית) יש לשלוח עד לתאריך 1.04.2019 לדוא"ל [email protected] נא לציין את כותרת המחקר ואת פרטי ההתקשרות של המציע/ה.

In the twenty-first century more and more Israelis are joining the preservation and revival of Jewish tongues and dialects onstage, looking for their diasporic roots. Across the country, one can attend shows in practically every Jewish language (Ladino, Yiddish, Maghrebi, Juhuri, Judeo-Aramaic, Bukharan, Judeo-Iraqi, and others). This trend cannot be separated from a quest for identity which includes a rejection of the essentialist attitude that the Hebrew language is a sine qua non for Israeli theatre (apart from Arabic). As a postvernacular cultural practice, these languages, no longer in use as a vernacular, gain in symbolic value what they have lost in communicative functions: generating vanished soundscapes, performing vocal dimensions of familiarity and estrangement. Indeed, this is a peculiarity of postvernacularity: rather than the language functioning as the vehicle of performance, its utterance is the performance itself.

The Yiddish Stage as a Temporary Home takes us through the fascinating life and career of the most important comic duo in Yiddish Theater, Shimen Dzigan and Yisroel Shumacher. Spanning the course of half a century-from the beginning of their work at the Ararat avant-garde Yiddish theater in Łodz, Poland, to their Warsaw theater-they produced bold, groundbreaking political satire. The book further discusses their wanderings through the Soviet Union during the Second World War and their attempt to revive Jewish culture in Poland after the Holocaust. It fi nally describes their time in Israel, fi rst as guest performers and later as permanent residents. There, in the 1950s, their political and cultural critique constituted a unique voice among the Hebrew theatrical troupes www.degruyter.com "[…] a masterfully crafted, defi nitive account of these major fi gures." Adi Mahalel, East European Jewish Affairs "This book constitutes a milestone in the historiographical study of Israeli theater […] Here the reader encounters many different voices within a textual fabric that moves between Hebrew and Yiddish." Ruthie Abeliovich, Gal-Ed Journal "A comprehensive study, brimming with facts and details, it lays out before us the duo's life stories and artistic endeavors." Michal Zamir, Haaretz "Diego Rotman's book gives Jewish humor a face, descends from the great heights of myth to tell a real story of fl esh and blood." Ya'ad Biran, Haaretz

הבמה כבית ארעי עוקב אחר גלגוליהם המרתקים של צמד האמנים שמעון דז'יגאן וישראל שומאכר במשך חצי מאה: מתחילת דרכם בתאטרון היידיש האוונגרדי "אררט" בלודז' שבפולין ובתאטרון שלהם בוורשה, שבו העלו סאטירות פוליטיות נועזות וחדשניות; דרך נדודיהם בברית המועצות במלחמת העולם השנייה וניסיונם להקים מחדש את התרבות היהודית בפולין שלאחר השואה; ועד בואם לישראל, תחילה כשחקנים-אורחים ואחר כך כתושבי קבע. למרות ההגבלות על הצגות יידיש בישראל התעקשו השניים להופיע בשפתם והצליחו לתרגם את המציאות הישראלית החדשה לסאטירה אקטואלית וייחודית. בשנות החמישים מתחו מעל בימתם ביקורת פוליטית ותרבותית שלא נשמע כמותה על הבמות בעברית. אחרי שנפרדו דרכיהם, ואחרי מותו של שומאכר ב-1961, המשיך דז'יגאן להופיע לבדו ובשיתוף פעולה עם יוצרים ואמנים ישראלים עד מותו ב-1980.

הספר מבוסס על הקלטות נדירות, תמלילים, תוכניות, יומנים אישיים, מכתבים, תמונות, עדויות בעל פה ומאמרי ביקורת, המצטרפים לכלל דיוקן ביקורתי ראשון של הצמד הדגול הזה. הספר בוחן גם את האמנות שלהם, את הקשר בין תאטרון לפוליטיקה ואת היחסים המורכבים בין תרבות הרוב לשפת מיעוטים.

על עבודתן של נעמי יואלי וגליה יואלי, "נפיץ - תיירות מלחמה" (פסטיבל עכו, 2011).
ביקורת תאטרון
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Theatre Critique of Naomi Yoeli and Galia Yoeli's "Nafitz - Tayarout Milkhama" ["Explosive - War Tourism"], Acre Fringe Theater Festival, 2011. [in Hebrew]

ABSTRACT In 1955, Iraqi Jewish immigrant artists founded Ur Ensemble (Lahakat Ur in Hebrew) and produced in Arabic the Majnūn Laylā (The Madman of Layla) by the Egyptian poet and playwright Aḥmad Shawqī. The Israeli Establishment subsidized and supported the Ensemble and intended the play for Palestinian spectators in Israel. It is a puzzling fact, because the policy of the Zionist melting pot required Middle Eastern Jews to move away from Arab culture and adopt a western orientation. I argue that the Israeli establishment perceived the Ur Ensemble as a propagandistic vehicle in order to display the state’s favourable attitude towards the Arab minority for the international community. However, in practice, the theatrical event created an Arab-Jewish dialogue based on a shared Arab culture contrary to the establishment's political intentions.

ABSTRACT This paper presents the findings of aesthetic qualitative research conducted in Israel for the purpose of increasing the understanding of the reception process among kindergarten children (aged 5–6). The paper focuses on the link between Theatrical Communication, personal ‘Cargo’ young audiences ‘carry’ upon attending a theatrical event and Theatrical Competence. We argue that the encounter between theatrical cargo and theatrical communication form the theatrical competence of the audience at this young age.

reviews 191 concerned with lessons as such, but with the limits of learning. Lehmann's method is dialectically deconstructive: reading against received wisdoms with close attention to key moments or ideas, identifying oppositions and showing their mutual dependencies. The essay on Brecht's affinities with Kafka, for example, makes some very interesting connections, especially in terms of the two writers' use of language. Lehmann's critique of the Brechtian category of the Fabel, the dialectical interpretation of a play's plot, is also illuminating because of its conceptual thoroughness. The Fabel, after all, has been Brecht's perennial weak spot, in that it allowed Brecht to posit a sometimes reductive binary tension between capitalism and socialism, but Lehmann's analysis goes beyond a simple critique of Fabel as redundant metanarrative in a postmodern age. There is a certain lack of scholarliness in all the essays. Critics are rarely consulted and so comments relating to Brechtforschung (p. 159) are seldom backed up with evidence. There are also several direct quotations that are not referenced. However, as readers of Lehmann will have already seen, what he lacks in scholarly apparatus he makes up for in intellectual rigour and argumentative originality. To conclude, then, theatre experts may well find the material on the poetry, which makes up half the collection, tangential or extraneous, but there is much to be enjoyed in the other essays. The advantage of a book like this is that one can dip into this essay or that, and careful selection will prove rewarding.

Allusions to Henrik Ibsen’s plays in the works of two prominent Israeli modernist writers, Amos Oz’s autobiographical A Tale of Love and Darkness (2004) and David Grossman’s The Zigzag Kid (1994) examined in the context of the Israeli reception of Ibsen in the 1950s and 1960s. To establish the variety of meanings Ibsen’s plays had for the audiences of the Habimah production of Peer Gynt in 1952 and The Kameri production of Hedda Gabler in 1966, this article draws on newspaper reviews and actors’ memoirs, as well as providing an analysis of Leah Goldberg’s translation of Peer Gynt. It emerges that both authors enlisted Ibsen in their exploration of the myths surrounding the formation of Israeli nationhood and identity.

... The Wedding of Sana (Scene 6). Sana and Amir return from their wedding ceremony to their home, while the sounds of the celebrating crowd are heard in the background. Amir is joyful and happy, but Sana is sad and silent. ... Sana tells Amir that she does not want to be his wife. ...