Showtime

The three day-program features six entries in the world premiere show competition.

By BARRY DAVIS
Jerusalem Theatre (photo credit: Rebecca Crown Auditorium)
Jerusalem Theatre
(photo credit: Rebecca Crown Auditorium)
Kids’ stuff in Haifa The Haifa International Children’s Performance Festival will take place at the Haifa Municipal Compound and the Auditorium Center at the Carmel Center from March 27 to 29.
The three day-program features six entries in the world premiere show competition; street theater from six countries around the world, including from Australia, China and Spain; as well as locally produced street theater offerings.
The proceedings will open with a performance of Bat Hamelech (The Princess), a world premiere of a play based on Haim Nahman Bialik’s The Legend of Three and Four, directed by Zviya Huberman and performed by the Haifait theater troupe.
The festival program includes shows for all ages, from preschool children to preteens. The Dragon and Alon children’s operetta, with a four-actor cast as well as video art and puppet enhancement, will be performed for the fiveto nine-year-olds while seven- to 12-year-olds can enjoy the Will You Hear My Voice? production, which portrays an intriguing encounter between a hearing-impaired actor and hearing actors.
The festival lineup incorporates shows by guest companies, including contributions from the Mediatheque Theater, the Mofa Theater and the Orna Porat Theater.
Meanwhile, the international outdoor entertainment roster features The Time Bells by the Carillo group from Spain, The Lost Wheels of Time by Australian Adam Read and Bus Stop, courtesy of the Five Quartet Trip troupe from Italy.
For more information: (04) 860-0500 or www.haifakids.com Animated kids The Passover version of the Animix comics and animation festival for children will take place at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque from March 27 to 29. This is the first time the event – a spinoff of the annual summer Animix Festival – will take place.
The workshop program includes a session, on the opening day of the festival, with comics artist Dubi Keich, who will advise six- to 12-year-olds how to go about producing comics stories. This will be followed by a guided viewing of animation clips for the whole family, overseen by veteran animator Dudu Shalita, while veteran caricaturist Nissim Hizkiyahu will present a portrait and caricaturedrawing workshop for 10- to 14-year-olds.
The second day’s lineup includes the “Film Born from Books” session, with a selection of animated clips based on novels. The spot also features an actress who will read passages from the relevant books. The program closes with the “Drawn Vehicles” slot, which sheds light on how to create animated versions of bicycles, cars and aircraft.
For more information: (03) 606-0800 When pop meets classical and lots more Tomorrow evening at 9, the Mediatheque Center in Holon will host the Shakespeare in Love musical show, starring actor-comedian Nathan Datner and pianist-conductor Gil Shohat.
The concert features a wide range of works, including Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, numbers from Fiddler on the Roof, Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata for Violin and Piano and Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2.
Datner and Shohat will be joined by Dorel Golan on piano, mezzo soprano vocalist Bracha Kol and Jana Gandelman on violin.
For tickets and more information: (03) 502-1552 and www.mediatheque.org.il Spring Dancing in Rehovot Gan Hameyasdim (Founders’ Park) in Rehovot will host a new national Spring Dancing in Rehovot festival on March 27 and 28 from 4 to 11 p.m. each day.
The free festival, which is overseen by artistic director Shlomo Mana, who fills a similar position at the Karmiel Festival, offers the public a wide range of entertainment, including a musical tribute to army bands called Perahim Bakaneh (Flowers in the Barrel) and the Eretz Ahavati (Land of My Love) dance and music show.
The festival roster includes some of the country’s leading dance troupes, such as Balance Givatayim, Lanua, Hora Ashkelon and the student group from Tel Aviv University. The stellar singing lineup includes Shulamit Aharon, Miri Aloni, Harel Skaat and Shula Chen. There will also be large-scale dance slots for the general public.
For more information: www.rehovot.muni.il