At the 360 Location-Dependent Theater Festival“Every day ... has a different feel.”
By KAYLA ROSEN(From left) Jack Shvili, Limor Eshayek and Avraham Cohen perform in ‘Queen of the Neighborhood: Love in Yemin Moshe.’(photo credit: SADAN PRODUCTIONS)
In Adam Yakin’s opinion, a theater performance does not have to be confined to a room with a stage and rows of seats facing it. In fact, for Yakin, who works as an actor, director, set designer and puppet-maker, anywhere can be a theater. All it takes is a little imagination and creativity.This is why Yakin, producer Kobi Frig, and the theater department of the Jerusalem municipality created the 360 Location-Dependent Theater Festival, which uses the city of Jerusalem as its stage. Throughout the festival – from August 25 to 28, there will be a number of plays in different parts of Jerusalem that will showcase the city and tell its stories.“Every day of the festival has a different feel,” said Yakin, who is the artistic director of the festival and also the director of two featured plays called The Nest and Citadel of Golems. “This type of theater is like seeing animals in nature, instead of seeing animals in a zoo.”What sets this festival apart is that the performances are part of a theatrical category known as site-specific theater. This means that each show was specially created to take place in a specific location, and therefore it cannot be performed in just a standard theater.“The energy and form of the space is very important,” said Yakin. “Because the space becomes one of the main actors.”This theater festival offers audiences a variety of shows – some indoors, some outdoors, some for children, some for adults, some comedic, some dramatic – but what they all do is work to represent Jerusalem and what makes it special.One show, The Journey, which is performed at the Alliance House, tells the story of people stuck in a mental hospital and the conflict between man, the institution and society. What makes this play especially interesting is that the cast is entirely comprised of haredi women, something that is seldom found in the theater world.Another show in the festival is called Queen of the Neighborhood: Love in Yemin Moshe, performed in the streets of Yemin Moshe. This play features Elvis, romance and heartfelt stories that are based on the real life experiences of Jack Shvili, the show’s writer.“Art can bring love up and bring hatred down,” said Limor Eshayek one of the three performers in Queen of the Neighborhood along with Shvili and Avraham Cohen. “These plays are works that are done from the heart.”One of the main motivations behind the festival is to help people enjoy Jerusalem in new and exciting ways. The reason that it has the term “360” in its name is because the point of the festival is to metaphorically give audiences a 360-degree view of the city.Each of the performances involved in the festival adds a new perspective on the city, and showcases something different about each area. For Eshayek, Queen of the Neighborhood is about bringing life to Yemin Moshe and the people that live there.“Jerusalem is the best place for the festival because of the character of the city,” said Frig, who as the producer helped to secure funding, schedule and design the festival.“This city effects the people that live in it more than any other city. We want to bring up the issues of Jerusalem through culture.”Beyond exhibiting the city of Jerusalem, the festival also gives independent actors, directors and writers a chance to show off their work.This is a fringe festival, which means that it is experimental in nature, but also that the plays come from small scale or independent theaters.Therefore, the fact that these shows will be a part of something more than just their individual productions will help to place them on a bigger platform and garner more attention.The people behind the 360 Festival are not doing it for monetary compensation, but rather because they believe that what they are doing has value.“It’s important to bring a stage to the artist and bring their quality to the public,” said Frig.As for the audience, they can expect to be brought into a new reality that will help them escape their daily life, even for just a few hours. They will also get a brand-new view of Jerusalem through a theatrical lens.“First of all the audiences will see the places in a different way,” said Yakin. “But it’s also about connecting with yourself. You are a participant, you are not just a viewer of the reality.”The festival runs through August 28. For more information: www.360jlm.co.il