As it has done for the last six years, the Theater Company Jerusalem is presenting an International Jewish Theater Festival at the end of this month in one of the smallest theatrical locations in Israel’s capital. Beit Mazia is located on an unobtrusive corner in the center of Jerusalem, close to the Mahaneh Yehuda market. Beit Mazia is a separate entity containing three theater companies – The Incubator, Psik and the Theater Company. It contains four performance halls, two of which seat 200; and two that have 50 seats for more intimate performances. It is here that some of the most radical theatrical productions are presented. At its very founding, the Theater Company aimed particularly at giving a theatrical voice to Jewish women. It has now expanded its range, although keeping its fundamental goal well in view.
“The International Jewish theater Festival is a dialogue between us and the Diaspora. We ask what is Jewish art and how is it different now that there is a State of Israel, compared to what Jewish art was when we were a people living just in the Diaspora? Then, we were a minority voice, and in the Diaspora we’re still a minority voice. But in Israel, we’re the majority. The festival is an inquiry into that change. It’s a question that the Israeli theater does not really like to address. As Herzl said, we want to be a country like any other country, and when we have Jewish thieves and prostitutes, we’ll know we have achieved that goal.”
Gabriella Lev
“The International Jewish theater Festival,” states Gabriella Lev, co-founder and artistic director of the Theater Company, “is a dialogue between us and the Diaspora. We ask what is Jewish art and how is it different now that there is a State of Israel, compared to what Jewish art was when we were a people living just in the Diaspora? Then, we were a minority voice, and in the Diaspora we’re still a minority voice. But in Israel, we’re the majority. The festival is an inquiry into that change. It’s a question that the Israeli theater does not really like to address. As Herzl said, we want to be a country like any other country, and when we have Jewish thieves and prostitutes, we’ll know we have achieved that goal.
“Israeli theater wants to think of itself as purely Israeli. But ‘Israeli’ is also Jewish, not only but also. We have this long tradition into which we need to put theater. The Jewish tradition has not really encouraged theater or even performance – perhaps in music and singing, but not much more than that. In the Talmud it says that if you pass near a theater, you should stay clear of it. There is also a discussion about what happens if you come across a temple of idolatry or a theater; which one should you chose, which one should you avoid? I don’t think it’s the theater; tradition prefers idolatry!
“We have to ask ourselves where we are in relation to this tradition. In our theater, we make an effort to be inclusive. Thus in the festival we have music, cabaret, stand-up comedy, theater and dance. There is also an exclusive performance for haredi women who do not perform in front of men. I personally have an ambivalent feeling toward this, even though I like the director of the group, Giti Purgas, very much. This play is Giti’s more personal piece. It centers on her relationship with her family who were Holocaust survivors.”
What is happening at the International Jewish Theater Festival?
The festival opens with a cocktail of short performances, in which promos for the rest of the festival are presented. The opening full performance is by the Bet HaGat ensemble of 14 artists playing a reconstruction of old Italian prayers and piyyutim using ancient instruments. A dance performance by Israeli company Meholot under the direction of choreographer Galit Liss presents Blue. The ensemble comprises 30 women over the age of 60 and is an exploration of the female body. This is their first appearance in Jerusalem, although they have already appeared all over the world, winning awards for their work.
From New York comes the award-winning PUSH company, which describes itself as physical theater. It is an ensemble of male and female dancers and actors who perform without words. Their acrobatic movements tell stories in unusual and surprising ways, showing the range of the human body’s inexhaustible configurations, especially in relation to each other.
Another group from the US, called the Jewish Ariel Theater from Washington, are presenting the premiere of their show 400 Bottles of Wine. Based on a story in the Talmud, it relates how three women challenge the male hegemony so prevalent in those times (and not only in their times!). Hadar Galron’s script is one of the few productions in the festival in English.
A young Israeli company called Teatron Leviatan was founded by three religious men. Asaf Freedman, the director, wants to create a theater influenced by the late Rabbi Menachem Froman. Accordingly, they want to create a theater that expresses the spiritual reality in Judaism because this is not done anywhere else – certainly not in the synagogues.
Lev is directing Freedman’s play called Ein Yam (No Sea).
“It’s funny, absurd and crazy. It begins with a lifeguard half-naked in swimming trucks and a megaphone..He picks up the megaphone to make an announcement and starts crying because the sea has disappeared! There is no sea. The whole play is an investigation into why the sea disappeared. The sea symbolizes the subconscious, the female presence, things that are constantly changing like the waves. Even though we know that the dry land is also constantly changing, you don’t witness it in the same way. But the sea is constantly moving and changing. The actors make a funeral for the sea and declaim obituaries. Just as the company is new, so are their theatrical ideas,” says Lev.
Al Hagiva is a satirical musical comedy about the situation in Israel, while another satire, called Hatzait Kaan Kodkod is performed by three young women criticizing the way women are viewed in Israeli society, especially in the army.
One of the evenings in the small studio theaters is an evening dedicated to the poetry of Yehuda Amichai, performed by two actor-singers. Another evening is a tribute to Arik Einstein with various musicians performing his songs.
There is, as Lev summarizes it “Something for everybody.”
All this is a far cry from Lev’s situation only a decade ago. She was then wandering with her company without a theater of her own. She recalls the nomadic existence: “We performed everywhere and anywhere, at the Khan, the Pargod, the Jerusalem Theatre, Habima in Tel Aviv, and abroad. It was only 10 years ago that we received our own space at Beit Mazia. It was like a miracle. We had our own space where we could do what we wanted. Then we thought that we should open this platform up to other groups dealing with Jewish subjects and exploring how to express Judaism through theater.
“That is how the Jewish Theater Festival began,” Lev explained. “For the first three years, we survived with a little funding from the Jerusalem Municipality. We persevered, however, and also managed to receive backing from the Ministry of Culture. This has helped us reach our seventh year of the festival. We even put on a festival during the corona pandemic, filming all the performances and putting them on Zoom.”
In addition, the Theater Company launched Bazak, a three-day festival for short pieces, not necessarily Jewish themed. “This is especially for young artists who want to generate their own voice but cannot fill an entire evening. They could, however, present a piece that lasts 15 minutes,” says Lev. “We opened this new space for them, to give new voices a chance to be heard. For this we received financial backing from the Jerusalem Foundation.” ■
The six-day festival runs from November 27 to December 3. Tickets cost NIS 60 to NIS 80. To order: Tel: (02) 624-4585/6 or https://did.li/Dohrl