“We chose the path of artistic endeavor and called for theater actors, creators and employees, and we decided together that Habimah’s performances cannot be stopped."
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIFamed Israeli actress Gila Almagor joins the Habimah Theater in announcing the return of Israeli performances to the main stage. August 2020. (photo credit: MOTTI KIMCHI)
Habimah Theater, the national theater of Israel, announced on Monday afternoon that its gates will be reopening, albeit not to an in-person audience, with five new Israeli shows and two new reproductions. This comes as coronavirus restrictions had forced the theater to remain closed for a large portion of the pandemic.Among those participating in the reopening of the theater are famed actresses Gila Almagor, Ruby Porat Shoval, Sandra Sadeh, Riki Blich, singer Roni Dalumi, and actors Norman Issa, Yaakov Zada Daniel and Nati Ravitz.“We chose the path of artistic endeavor and called for theater actors, creators and employees, and we decided together that Habimah’s performances cannot be stopped. Therefore we began rehearsals for seven new shows which will open when the time comes, when we open an outline for Habimah’s performances,” said Habimah Theater CEO Noam Semel.However, he highlighted that the decision has not yet been approved by the Knesset, which is necessary for the halls to properly open.“We at the Habimah Theater have decided that we are not waiting any longer,” said artistic director Moshe Kaptan. “We decided to announce the stage layout for a return to routine and within it, we invited the theater actors and various creators to produce five new Israeli plays which will allow the Israeli creation to take its place in the center of the stage again.”Kaptan explained that the online medium “will not replace the live medium,” but that the decision comes as an “out-of-the-box” solution amid Israel’s coronavirus restrictions.One of the performances which will be bringing Habimah back into the limelight is a Hebrew performance of Jean-Claude Grumberg’s Dreyfus in Rehearsal, which tells the story of a group of Jewish actors living in a ghetto in Poland during World War II. The Hebrew version which will be performed was directed by Omri Nitzan and translated to Hebrew by Eli Bijawi.Talk About Where They Are is a new play by Nava Semel and Aya Kaplan that has also begun rehearsing. Aya Kaplan is directing the play, which takes place in 1949 and centers on a poor Jewish Romanian family that seeks better lives for its members.Another play currently in production at the theater is Motel by the Sea, written by Ruby Porat Shoval and directed by Miri Lazar. It takes place in a small Nahariya motel in northern Israel during the Lebanon War. Only three people remain in the hotel in a play that involves their interactions as the war plays out in the background.Mr. Chairman of the Council is a play by Guy Maroz that was dramatically composed by Shahar Pinkas, described simply as “a crazy comedy about morbid racism.” The plot line follows the first-ever Arab council head of a Jewish local authority.Another play in the works is Mental Health Officer, which follows an IDF mental health officer stationed on the Gaza border, receiving combatants straight from the battlefield, with cases inspired by real-life events during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The play is written by Nevo Ziv and was dramatically composed by the aforementioned Shahar Pinkas.The famed prince of Denmark is returning to the stage with an added twist. Maor Zaguri has taken William Shakespeare’s famed Hamlet and put a twist in it, trying to “turn it on its head,” so to speak.The final play currently in the works in A Bachelorette’s Last Request. This dark comedy tells the last days of a single woman hospitalized in the oncology ward, when all she wants is not to die alone. The play is written by Noam Gil and directed by Yigal Zacks.Performances will be rehearsed and performed in the theater, and then will be filmed professionally and be made available for streaming on online platforms. The decision came in conjunction with trustees of the Tel Aviv District Court, attorney Dorit Levy Tiller and accountant Chen Berdichev.
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