Cameri's 'Hamlet' headed for US

"Hamlet", which was directed by Omri Nitzan and stars Itay Tiran, will perform during the festival in Hebrew with simultaneous English translation.

By VIVA SARAH PRESS
itay tiran 88 298 (photo credit: )
itay tiran 88 298
(photo credit: )
The Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv's "Hamlet" is now headed for Washington, DC. The play, which recently performed at the Gdansk Shakespeare Festival, will take part in the "Shakespeare in Washington" fest which is scheduled to run between January-June 2007. "It is very exciting. I think the production of our 'Hamlet' in Hebrew in the United States is of utmost significance," Noam Semel, general director of the Cameri Theater, told The Jerusalem Post by telephone from Washington. "The US is a very important place. It's important for Americans to see Israeli culture." With help from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Semel signed a contract with festival organizers on Tuesday night for the Cameri's role in the upcoming event. "Hamlet", which was directed by Omri Nitzan and stars Itay Tiran, will perform seven times during the festival in Hebrew with simultaneous English translation. A special hall is being built for the production - which comprises unique staging. More than 20 arts organizations from the US and abroad will participate in the six month Shakespeare event. The festival will include dance, music, film, and of course, theater. In addition to the Cameri, the Royal Shakespeare Company will perform, as will the Signature Theater (songs from "West Side Story" and other musicals based on Shakespeare), Washington National Opera (Verdi's "Macbeth"), the Washington Ballet (a Bard focus to its "7x7" series of seven-minute-long premieres), the Kirov Ballet ("Romeo and Juliet"), and the Kirov Opera (Verdi's opera "Falstaff"). "Only in Washington could such an event take place," Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theater in Washington and curator of the event, told Variety. The festival was suggested by the Kennedy Center at a summer news conference at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington. The event coincides with the Folger's 75th anniversary as home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection.