The Catcher in the Sand

I have seen last night probably the best theater performance of the season with the Jaffa Gesher Theater production of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author. I am glad to end this year’s season with this performance, especially as this is also the best show that I have seen for many years at Gesher, a theater that meant so much in the Israeli landscape in the 90s but seemed to be in free fall during the last few seasons. I hope that this is the sign of a strong rebound.

source http://www.gesher-theatre.co.il

I have seen the play on stage only once in the past at the acting school studio in Bucharest. It was a memorable performance then with the young actors of a solid generation approaching with passion and sensitivity the complex text of Pirandello, one of the most intelligent exercise of theater in theater that was ever written, debating the relations between realism and sensibility, truth and reality, imagination and the role of of the actor, of the director and of the author in the art of theater.

source http://www.gesher-theatre.co.il

With my expectations set high I was a little bit concerned of not being disappointed, taking in account my recent experiences at Gesher. To a large extent my concerns were not justified. The adaptation of Roee Chen cuts deeply in the text of the play, but keeps the essential of the message in a format fit to the needs and time budget (or what are perceived to be the needs and time budget) of the contemporary spectators. The invasion of the six characters seeking for the author to nail in words their suffering and emotions and to fix the tragic twists of destiny is translated into a drama played on the background of a century where reality shows tend to replace reality. Director Evgeny Arye is back to more direct ways of expressing emotions, and relies less on the spectacular circus-like effects that have become kind of a trademark of the theater in Jaffo lately, spectacular, but not always justified. The wonderful team of actors are perfect, starting with the big star of Gesher Israel (Sasha) Demidov in the role of The Director, peered with Moshe Ivgi as The Father, head of the family in seek of The Author (or of The Creator), and until the smaller roles of the younger children, who stay silent or are absent for most of the time of the play, just to make the final point in a moving and well thought ending.

Frankly, we considered canceling our subscription to the Gesher Theater next year. This performance convinced us to continue. A theater capable of putting on stage such a performance is worth continuing to be watched in expectation.

We used the last two punched holes in the subscription card for the Habima theater season to see the satirical cabaret show ‘Nifgaei Harada’ which was translated in the English page of the program to ‘Anxiety Struck’. Well, ‘Harada’ is a little more than just anxiety, it is closer to terror or shock which probably describes better the current mood and state of mind of the Israeli society. The authors of the texts in the show are B. Michael and Ephraim Sidon, and the director is Moti Kirschenbaum – all three were involved three and a half decades ago in the making of ‘Nikui Rosh’ (Head Cleaning, Brain-washing) – a cult satirical program which started a few years before Saturday Night Life and had shaken all the holy cows broke all established taboos of the Israeli society at a time of moral and political crisis similar to the one that faces today the Israeli society, establishing in the process the rules of freedom of expression that became standard – at least until now – in the Israeli culture and media.

How is ‘Anxiety Struck’ different from the many satirical programs we can see each week on the TV screens? The most important aspect is in my opinion the fact that there is no search or intention of neutrality. Free (or almost free) from the constraints of rating and the ‘objectivity’ rules of the broadcasting laws the authors of the texts do not perform any balancing act, they come from a clear and enrolled position, and what they perform on stage is politics at least at the same extent that it is art. By doing this they play as all satirical authors have always done with the borders of the ‘allowed’ in what concerns the political consensus (which they often cross) and with the limits of the good taste (which they seldom cross). Their saying is crisp, engaged, and leaves no doubt on what side they are and what situations they believe need to be fixed. If there are different opinions concerning the political aspects dealt with in the show one needs to go to a different show in a different hall to hear.

What about the artistic experience? Here my feelings are mixed. All the actors – Yael Leventhal, Dov Navon, Alon Neuman, Talli Oren, Tomer Sharon – are very good, they feel good in this genre and love doing it. The hall at Tzafta in Tel Aviv is however very challenging for anybody who sits beyond the very first rows, and we were not among the lucky ones last night. The sets are very uninspired, and so is the music, which is quite a surprise taking onto account that the author of the music score is Keren Peles, whose other works I have seen until now were always good and interesting. This I hope is just an unhappy event in the career of one of the best stage composers we have in Israel.

Satire in general is something the Israeli society needs badly in this moment. With the writings of Kishon and Levin in the back wind and with authors like Sidon and Michael, and even some of the text authors who write for TV shows there is hope that the tradition continues.  Can satire change the world, or help the world to change? We can hope so, says Moti Kirschenbaum in an interview in the show program, but then, we go to sleep and wake up in the morning, and realize that we are no more than the court clowns. Yes, but then, are there not the clown acts that are in many cases in history remembered as best representing their times?

Teatrul Habima din Tel Aviv, teatrul national al Israelului se afla de cativa ani in peregrinare, timp in care cladirea sa a suferit o drastica renovare. Necesitatea de a juca in sali diferite, cu acustici si conditii de vizionare departe de a fi optime se adauga senzatiei de criza pe care teatrul pare ca o parcurge de peste un deceniu, cu o generatie de actori si conducatori artistici in imbatranire cedand greu locul unei generatii de mijloc incerte. Raza de lumina o constituie grupul de tineri cunoscuti sub numele ‘tinerii Habimei’ care avand sansa de a juca pe una dintre primele scene ale tarii alaturi de actori consacrati au si ocazia de a improspata atmosfera intr-un teatru de repertoriu supus presiunilor economice si chiar si politice uneori.

Spectacolul cu ‘Pescarusul’ lui Cehov ar fi trebuit sa fie o asemenea ocazie de intlnire pe scena a mai multor generatii de actori intr-o piesa din repertoriul clasic. Din pacate regia asumata de actorul Rami Heuberger nu a facut un serviciu bun spectacolului, care treneaza si este lipsit de pasiune si dramatism. Cea mai mare greseala a fost insa distribuirea in cele doua roluri principale a printilor (copiii unor actori foarte cunoscuti in Israel) Michael Moshonov si Dana Ivgy. Daca Moshonov este doar plat si pare lipsit de interes fata de ce se intampla in jur, Ivgy este o contra-distribuire totala. Actrita de talent careia ii sta bine in rolurile de fata israeliana uratica dar plina de vointa si viata nu reuseste sa redea nimic din pasiunea si tragismul Ninei.

Mult mai reusit este ‘micul’ spectacol ‘Mishehu iamut baSof’ (‘Cineva va muri in final’) scris si regizat de Maor Zaguri si jucat in exclusivitate de tinerii Habimei. Este o drama contemporana, in care sase personaje intr-un mare oras se cauta unele pe celelalte, se intalnesc si se despart, se iubesc si se ignora. Regizorul si-a facut actorii partasi in dezvoltarea dramatica a personajelor si a conflictului si cu un minim de mijloace scenice, bazandu-se mai ales pe jocul si intuitia acestora. Echipa compusa din Tomer Bar David, Daniel Saban, Gali Hagar, Yafit Asulin, Meni Florentin si Lea Galfenstein reuseste sa construiasca un spectacol inchegat, cu ritm si logica, care rezoneaza bine cu publicul.

We used the last entry in this season’s subscription at the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv to see the ‘The Good Soul of Szechuan’ – which is already in its second season. A good performance it was indeed. Brecht’s play written between 1938 and 1940 is known as one of his typical programmatic and dialectic theater exercise,  but it’s also a text full of power and emotion, of contrasts between virtue and evil, materialism and idealism, charity and capitalism, womanhood and machismo.  As in more than one of Brecht’s plays the ending of this moralistic tale taking place in a world haunted by tired gods disappointed with what mankind has become is open and the question in the final is addressed to the audience placing in its minds the responsibility of answering whether living according to one’s moral standing is possible in a world dominated by greed.

from www.cameri.co.il

It is the second performance that I see in this season with Ola Schur-Selektar in the principal role after ‘Yentl’. It was again a double role in which she had to spend much time in man clothes disguise, which required acting and singing as well. Tonight I became definitely convinced that the Israeli stage has in Ola one of its biggest talents, an actress full of charm and power, who knows to act, to sing, and most of all to move the audiences. Ola is a star.

The second strong part of the evening was the music composed and arranged by local musician and pop star Keren Peles. Peles demonstrates with this performance (in which she does not appear) that she is a very gifted stage music composer, and she also translated the Brecht lyrics together with director Udi Ben-Moshe. Much less inspired were the sets, close to empty stages do not fit any play or directorial concept, and in this case they did not resonate with the colorful musical score and actors approach. Yet this was overall a good evening at the theater, in a season in which the Cameri  keeps the lead as the best theater in Tel Aviv.

The six characters of Shmuel Hasfari’s new play ‘Havdalah’ do not need to seek for a playwright. Hasfari is well in control of the members two families representing two poles of the Israeli society immediatly after the six days war, and taking responsibility on directing he drives the play and its nuances up to the very last detail.

The name of the play which means in Hebrew ’separation’ is of the Jewish ceremony that marks the end of the Shabbat and the start of the new week. It’s the symbolic separation between holy and profane, between the spirit of the Shabbat and the dealings of the day-to-day life.

Separation and departure is the theme of the play. Apparently it is a story about the cultural gap between two Israeli families – one of Holocaust survivors, the other of ‘aristocratic’ Jerusalemites whose kids fall in love and decide to marry. Looked more attentively the text says much more about the separation between the idealistic and moral pre-1967 Israel and the euphoric and materialistic post-1967 Israel, about the departure from the values that led to the foundation of the country. Although located in time in 1968 it says a lot about Israel four decades later.

The Cameri performance is not as serious or dull as it sounds, it’s actually funny, well acted, and has moments of great comedy, especially in the first act. The story is well written and works well until close to the end. Each character is well defined and relates well with the other. All the actors team is good, and it’s clear that the writer-director worked with each of them to the last details of their characters. Anat Waxman especially shines, while Gil Frank matches her with a deep and human performance. At the end of the play all characters have twisted their personalities and ‘adapted’ to the new times, only Frank’s moralistic character is almost reduced to silence, an anachronism in a new world deprived of values.

Teatrul Cameri din Tel Aviv in colaborare cu teatrul din Haifa prezinta in coproductie spectacolul cu muzica ‘Yentl’ dupa povestirea lui Isaac Bashevis Singer in adaptarea scenica a lui Leah Napolin si traducerea lui Dan Almagor. Folosesc intentionat termenul ’spectacol cu muzica’ similar celui ‘film cu muzica’ folosit de Barbra Streisand pentru filmul ei din 1983 – mi se pare mai potrivit si in acest caz pentru un spectacol in care partea muzicala si coregrafica nu este lipsita de calitati dar care nu are in el niciun shlagar memorabil, in schimb este binecuvantat cu fluiditate si tensiune dramatica.

Bashevis Singer este unul dintre scriitori mei cei mai iubiti. L-am descoperit tarziu, dupa ce am ajuns in Israel si am fost imediat fascinat de lumea evreiasca est-europeana pe care o descrie in romanele si povestirile sale, in care eroii isi traiesc pasiunile si iubirile in mediul permanent amenintat al comunitatilor evreiesti din Rusia si Polonia, in care coeziunea culturala bazata pe intelepciunea Torei si a Talmudului se confrunta in sufletele eroilor cu tentatiile carnale si culturale ale lumii din jur, cu deschiderea ei, cu teatrul, circul, ziarele si cartile sale, cu posibilitatea de a calatori in locuri de legenda cum ar fi cel numit America in care evreii nu ar mai fi vesnica victima a istoriei. M-a fascinat acest spatiu cu dimensiuni tragice si magice in acelasi timp, cu care am o afinitate ciudata, poate genetica, in ciuda pretentiilor mele de evreitate moderna si nereligioasa, si in ciuda ignorantei mele totale in ceea ce priveste idishul. Mai tarziu am descoperit povestirile si romanele sale americane, si din nou m-am regasit in nelinistea si dramele emigrantilor, in setea lor de adaptare exterioara si tensiunea fata de acea parte dinauntru care este ramasa pe veci in spatiul est european, in retrairea Holocaustului si de catre cei care i-au supravietuit si de catre cei care isi cara vina de a nu fi fost acolo.

Textul adaptarii pentru scena (original pentru Broadway) al lui Leah Napolin si al filmului Barbrei Streisand este insa departe de a fi fidel povestirii lui Bashevis Singer. Este ignorata in ambele productii una dintre componentele esentiale ale  povestirii. Eroina lui Bashevis Singer traieste si drama ambiguitatii orientarii sale sexuale. Nu numai ca impreuna cu inteleptul sau tata inchidea obloanele si invata Torah (caci vorba batranului rabin in Dumnezeu poti avea incredere ca va intelege de ce o fata aspira sa invete Torah, dar in vecini nu) dar Yentl insasi era ‘diferita de celelalte fete din oras, inalta, subtire, mica in piept si ingusta in solduri. La amiaza Shabatului, cand tatal sau dormea Yentl ii imbraca pantalonii, caftanul de matase, talitul, chipa si palaria …’. In film ca si in piesa pusa in scena pe Broadway si la Cameri, ambiguitatea sexuala lipseste si  Yentl se dezvaluie ca femeie iubitului sau Avigdor si isi redobandeste identitatea feminina in final, elemente de intriga care nu exista in versiunea originala,

Spectacolul de la Cameri este regizat de Moshe Kepten, regizor tanar care a inregistrat un succes de scena si de public anul trecut cu o noua versiune a ‘Violonostului de pe acoperis’ dupa Shalom Alechem, alta creatie cu versiune cinematografica celebra. Nu am vazut acel spectacol dar am citit cronici dupa care ‘Yentl’ ar fi o ralativa dezamagire. Daca este asa probabil ca am pierdut un spectacol foarte bun, caci mie si prezenta montare a lui ‘Yentl’ mi-a placut.

Spectacolul dureaza o ora si 40 de minute fara pauza si are cursivitate si sensibilitate. Spatiul scenic este folosit in mod inteligent si legatura intre episoade este realizata prin proiectii de texte din Talmud care ilustreaza perceptele care guverneaza viata eroilor si cu care acestia trebuie sa se confrunte si pe care trebuie sa le incalce pentru a-si trai pasiunile. Cele doua conflicte principale – cel al setei de invatatura si al dragostei se imbina si se confrunta in permanenta. Eroina porneste de la dragostea fata de invatatura celor sfinte pentru a continua cu dragostea si atractia erotica si a se intoarce in final la invatatura – fiecare dintre aceste pasiuni o confrunta cu dilemele inerente statutului ei de femeie in societatea evreiasca traditionala si pentru fiecare in parte raspunsul este in incalcarea regulilor pentru a putea respecta principiile adevaraului si a dragostei – si a celei omenesti si a celei fata de Creator.

In rolul principal este distribuita Ola Schur-Selektor, actrita si cantareata pe care eu nu am vazut-o pana acum si care se achita cu brio de sarcina, joaca cu un amestec de naturalete si pasiune care cuceresc si canta cu aplomb si forta. Dansatorul si coreograful Yehezkel Lazarov ii da replica in rolul lui Avigdor la nivel bun, fara a fi stralucit, si lui i se datoreaza si conceptia coreografica si miscarea de scena care joaca un rol important in spectacol. Una dintre gaselnitele reusite este rolul vanzatorului de carti jucat de Tal Weiss, un alt personaj din mitologia evreiasca est-europeana care furnizeaza premiza initiala a povestii si joaca si rolul corului in finalul deschis si ambiguu, diferit de cel al povestirii lui Singer dar potrivit atmosferei si mesajului spectacolului.

Ultimele doua gauri de pe abonamentul anual la Beit Lessin le-am consumat in seara aceasta cu Vedere de pe pod a lui Arthur Miller. Desi este vorba despre o premiera recenta piesa pare deja bine rodata, jocul actoricesc si regia atenta a lui Hilel Mittelpunkt facand din aceasta drama din viata imigrantilor New York-ului la jumatatea secolului trecut o realizare solida care cred ca va rezista destul de multa vreme si se va bucura de succes. Mittelpunkt a citit foarte atent textul, i-a descifrat nuantele si momementele de gradatie dramatica, reusind sa-si ghideze actorii spre un joc natural si eficace. Scenaografia lui Eran Atzmon mi s-a parut superioara celei din celelalte doua spectacole de la Cameri pe care le-am vazut in aceasta stagiune. Echipa de actori se achita bine de datorie, dialogurile curg natural, si desi niciunul dintre actori nu face o performanta dintre acelea pe care le-as numi memorabile spectacolul are cursivitate si dialogurile suna extrem de natural, ajutate de scrierea exceptionala a lui Miller, dramaturg care intelege psihologia personajelor si stapaneste perfect structura dramatica. Spre deosebira de majoritatea celorlalte piese ale lui Beit Lesin nici un ‘monstru sacru’ nu apare in aceasta reprezentatie, In rolul principal Igal Naor care nu este dintre actorii de prima mana reuseste o performanta buna, dar nu dintre cele pe care le-as numi memorabile, la fel ii dau replica cu profesionalism si in ton Rivka Neuman, Hadas Moreno si altii, intr-un spectacol pe care regia si calitatea textului il fac demn de vazut.