To be (or not to be) independent Noam Peleg will preside over an independent production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with the five-performance schedule kicking off at the Tmuna Theater in Tel Aviv today at 1 p.m., with more performances lined up at the same venue for tomorrow, Sunday, March 27 and April 17 (all at 7:30 p.m.). The cast includes Dori Angel in the title role, Yoav Bar-Lev, Iriti Natan Bendak, Alchi Levit, Yinon Sapir, Hila Mayzkar and Itzik Golan. All told, the members of the cast will play 21 roles, with some playing as many as five characters. The soundtrack for the production was composed by Udi Brenner.For tickets and more information: (03) 561-1211 and www.tmu-na.org.il Political women The Tel Aviv Cinematheque will host an International Women’s Day program based on the theme of “women and politics” on Thursday. The program, which will take place under the auspices of the French Embassy, the French Institute in Israel and the WePower association, will feature several panel discussions, such as one about the challenges faced by women who want to enter into politics, moderated by writer and researcher Dr. Neli Less.Another one is about influential political female figures, presented by WePower head Yifat Zamir. The discussions will take place in French and Hebrew.The program will end with a screening of the French film Potiche, starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu, about the wife of a wealthy man who discovers her own leadership qualities when her husband’s company falls on hard times.For more information: (03) 796-8000 and www.ambafrance-il.org.The ‘Voice’ of dance and song Sahar Azimi, who recently appeared on TV’s The Voice talent show, will combine his two artistic loves in a dance and music double header at the Machsan 2 venue at Jaffa Port on March 7–9. The first part of the program features the Bo, Targish (Come, Feel) dance production, which is a new version of a show that has already done the rounds in Israel, as well as at festivals abroad. Azimi will be joined on stage by Anat Grigorio, Orin Yohanan and Tzuf Yitzhaki, with music played by Didi Erez and recorded numbers by Tim Buckley, and an old blues song by Jimmy and Mama Yancey.The second show, Sahar Azimi Hosts, is a musical slot with Azimi and Erez, joined by Amir Darezi and Dafna Shilon. The program will incorporate original material written by each of the four performers, plus covers of songs by David Bowie and Jeff Buckley.From Gershwin to Jackson A jazz concert with a difference will take place at the Latrun Monastery on March 9 at noon, when saxophonist Leonid Sanderski fronts a program of works that cover a wide spectrum of styles and genres, from George Gershwin compositions to pop numbers by Michael Jackson. Sanderski’s partners in musical exploration include pianist Katya Tuboul, bass player Simon Starr, drummer Noam Yisraeli and vocalist Olga Sanderski, with the Jerusalem Festival Orchestra underpinning the quintet’s efforts under the direction of Vladimir Bershewitz.Sanderski also arranged all the works.For tickets and more information: (02) 535-6954 International Women’s Day in the Western Galilee A rich program of entertainment and hands-on events has been lined up for the Western Galilee’s event to mark International Women’s Day, which will take place on March 8 and 9. The lineup includes demonstrations of traditional crafts by local artists at the Treasure in the Walls ethnographic museum in Acre. The demonstration spots will include a jewelry workshop, traditional straw weaving and basket making, tailoring and traditional methods of making spices and herbal remedy mixtures.There will also be a walking tour, together with traditional storytelling, through the alleyways of Peki’in, a Galilean Women’s tour of Ma’alot-Tarshiha, and a Women and Women’s Stories in the Western Galilee tour that starts near Shlomi and takes in much of the local landscape all the way up to the Lebanese border. Other events include a visit to the dance village at Ga’aton, an art exhibition and a body language workshop with actress Esti Zackheim.For more information: 1-800- 333-567 and www.matteasher.org.il
