Panim- Faces of Art and Culture in Israel- March-April 1999

Alternative Theater in the Spotlight

As an eager graduate of the Beit Zvi acting school, Moni Yosef was sure that he would be a star. Visions of Hollywood crowned his dreams. He never imagined that 14 years later he would be dressed as an overgrown dysfunctional child of 41 in a play called "Anthology," stuttering and shrieking at his disturbed mother while rudely confronting a confounded audience.

Not exactly Hollywood, this is alternative theater, and Yosef wouldnt trade it for the world. For one thing, it has made him into the international star he always wanted to be. The modest Acre Theater Center, which he co-founded with David Maayan in 1985, has been invited to Europe nearly every year since the early 90s and often twice a year for tours and festivals. Performances were recently requested in Australia, as well as Canada, but the company had to turn down its first invitation to North America: the Acre Theater Center was overbooked.

"Anthology" has become legendary in Israeli avante-garde theater. It dramatizes a small section of a larger Acre project, called Arbeit Macht Frei, which deals with the Holocaust.

"Anthology" is difficult to watch. Performed by only two actors, and modest prop a piano, a tray of cognac glasses and a platter of sweets it is an encounter with Zelma Greenwald, a survivor of the Holocaust, as she explains her thoughts, experiences and moods with the aid of her piano. Singing to her own accompaniment is the only way she can convey the tangle of emotions and complexes in her mind. Her experiences in the ghetto, concentration camps, pre-war Europe and post-war Israel, have forced Zelma to devise a web of theories with which to comprehend the trauma. However, her suffering has not necessarily broken down the kind of stereotyped and generalized thinking that leads to group hatreds it may even have strengthened it.

The only outside force that penetrates her solitary, seemingly frozen existence in time, is her son, a grown but infantile child. Their relationship is disturbing enough to watch; but in alternative theater, there is no such thing as a passive audience. The actors carry on a veritable running dialogue with the audience, in which the values they live are posed forcibly and repeatedly to the viewers, in an aggressive manner that demands judgment.

Since "Anthology" first opened in 1997, it has been performed in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Salzburg and Parma, and will play in Vilnius, Brussels and Spain in May and June 1999. The play has also been used as an educational tool, being performed for Israeli schoolchildren as part of their studies about the Holocaust.

"Arab Dream" is another Acre project created by "Diwan," a group formed by the Center. Continuing with heavy subject material, this production deals with the complex psycho-social bind of Arabs living in Israel. It tells the story of a man who is caught between identities, "who has everything and nothing, who wants to belong without feeling guilty, the right man in the wrong place." Again, the audience is invited to participate fully in the life of Khaled, his dreams and his nightmares, as he struggles to understand himself via the woman he loves.

Khaleds escapades land him in a situation where Israelis try to teach him to be Arab; his Arab wife is defiled in his eyes by wearing Jewish garb; he fights with Israelis against Arabs, and is driven to desperation by questions with no answers.

The real-life material this group addresses is not coincidental; the Centers mission is to be a socially activist theater company, dedicated to addressing the local concerns of Acres Arab and Jewish communities. Thus, the Center encourages the new and individual work of talented and committed artists. It also tends to deal with the subjects most relevant to the life of the actors and producers involved, often to the point of mingling theater and real life.

Kohelet ("Ecclesiastes") and Boer ("Burning") are the theaters most recent projects of all; Kohelet will be performed in Weimar in April and May 1999. This is a very different kind of work: it shows historical images of Israeli life using tableau scenes. The audience moves from hall to hall, viewing posed frames of Israel in ancient times, up to the Second Temple period, including scenes from some of the internal conflicts. The images are clear symbols of some of the problems relating to modern Israeli life as well, and like Ecclesiastes, offer a penetrating philosophical critique.

Boer is completely interdisciplinary, a musical-theatrical work whose inspiration is drawn from the holy books of Judaism and Islam. From Jewish prayer to Sufi mysticism, ancient music, folk music and original composition, this brand-new piece (premièred in March) also exemplifies another goal of the center: Arab-Jewish cooperation and coexistence. Boer will be performed in Marseilles this May.

A.B. Yehoshua: The Heart of the Matter

A.B. Yehoshua estimates that this might have been his thousandth interview.

Unperturbed, sipping grapefruit juice in the lobby of the Dan Carmel, commenting on Haifas beauty and answering questions as if they had never before been asked (and asking a good few himself), it is hard to fathom that this gracious and affable man is one of Israels greatest living writers.

Hell politely, though not expansively, tell about his personal life (he is married to a clinical psychologist, has three grown children, one of them married, and is waiting actually "dying" to become a grandfather); he would much prefer to discuss religion and politics, Israeli society and literature. Excavating Israels heart and soul has been, after all, his vocation for the past thirty-plus years.

Novelist, essayist and playwright, winner of the 1995 Israel Prize for Literature, Yehoshua has published 17 books in Hebrew and not a few of them have been translated into some 22 languages. He teaches literature at Haifa University ("students dont flock to my classes, theyd rather take less demanding ones"), while his own works have attracted many a literary critics attention. His first novel, "The Lover," which has sold over 120,000 copies in Israel, is read by high school students for the matriculation exam in literature.

It is also currently being made into an international big-budget film (due out in the fall) to be called "The Lost Lover," by the Italian director and screenwiter Roberto Faenza. Not the first time one of his works has been adapted for the screen, Yehoshua simply shrugs at the liberties Faeza has taken with his novel Lebanon and the intifada have replaced the Yom Kippur War setting and Israel/Palestinian relations are center-staged. Filmmaking, says Yehoshua, has little to do, except contractually, with the craft of fiction writing. It is his "I cant figure it out" popularity among Italian readers that fascinates and flatters Yehoshua.

Master of shifting viewpoints ("this I learned from William Faulkner") and the mono-dialogue, Yehoshua penetrates the complex and often self-destructive aspects of familial relationships, a subtle mirror his social message is never heavy-handed of the "Israeli condition." Born in Jerusalem in 1936, educated at Hebrew University and raised on S.Y. Agnon ("we all were"), Yehoshuas mother encouraged her son to be "like the good Ashkenazi Jews" and in his eaerly writing there is no trace of his Sephardic heritage.

Only when he felt "secure in my Israeliness" did he delve into his cultural roots and his Jewish past. The literary turning point was his 1990 novel, "Mr. Mani," a five-generational Sephardi anti-saga (it is the authors personal favorite), which takes the reader on a historical journey from present to past. The east/west tug-of-war is further played out in his two more recent novels, "Open Heart" (1996) and "Journey to the End of the Millenium," which has recently appeared in English translation. With all his other book-related commitments book tours and interviews, he adds with a wink Yehoshua barely manages to find five hours a day to write. That there is a novel-in-progress is all hell say on the topic.

Ever since Yehoshuas first collection of short stories was published in 1962, he has been one of the countrys dominant literary figures. "The new generation of writers would like to wish me and my contemporaries away," says Yehoshua, whose Im-not-going-anywhere position is unequivocal. Critical of the young breeds post-modern, journalistic, take-no-stands style (although he admits that "there are exceptions"), Yehoshua would like to see literature become, once again, the natural forum for moral discourse.

Yehoshua has never had trouble taking stands. His left-wing socialist politics are well known. He recently caused a stir (together with author and close friend Amos Oz) by openly supporting the Conservative and Reform movements in Israel. Some of his close friends thought he was selling out the secular population.

But Yehoshua is not just offering a knee-jerk reaction against the stranglehold of the ultra-Orthodox when he says that, as a confirmed agnostic, "Israeliness is the fulfillment of my Jewishness," an integral part of "my language, history and identity."

Solidarity is his clarion call and it is on the strength of dialogue that this secular prophet pins his hopes for the countrys future. "We can either build one ghetto next to the other as extremists on both sides would have it or we can strive for cultural pluralism." For Yehoshua, there really isnt any choice.

- Shelley Kleiman

FILM

Maaleh Graduates Steal the Screen

The students of the Maaleh Film School in Jerusalem the only film school in Israel catering to religious film students showed 11 new films by graduating students in a prize ceremony in March. The Keshet Prize for Best Documentary went to "Klatchi in the Holy Land," about the complexities of family relationships. The Ministry of Educations Prize went to Musyuf 9, a film documenting the colorful characters of Jerusalems old Bucharan neighborhood. The prize for best feature film went to "Day," by Yael Rubinstein, a powerful film about three Israeli women, of different ages, religions and situations.

Other recent films from Maaleh are fixtures on this years international festival trail. Four films were screened in March at the New York Jewish Film Festival, including "Ido," "Bridal Breeze," "Jans Tea House," and "Four Men Entered the Grove." "Jans Tea House" was nominated for the audience prize, which will be decided in early April. "Ido," and "Pintele Yid" appear at the New Jersey Jewish Film Festival in mid-March; "Ido," along with "I Thee Wed," are at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival in mid-March. "People," will be screened in late April, at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

Frida Kahlo à la Noa Dar

"Eyesaurus-Frida," an intense and captivating dance production based on the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, will be heading to Europe in the spring. Kahlos diaries and paintings are the sources of inspiration for this work. With elaborate costumes and sets, the dance conveys the emotionally turbulent life of this tortured artist, as she struggled with a disfigured body the result of a traffic accident at a young age marriage, divorce and remarriage to the artist Diego Riviera; and her art. The music combines traditional Mexican music and modern Israeli work, by the group "Tractors Revenge," (which performs some of the music for the Batsheva Dance Company). The dance was produced by the Noa Dar Company, and opened in the 1998 "Curtains Up" dance festival (see Panim, Jan 1999). Critics hailed it as "one of the most intriguing and interesting worksThe personal movement language is charged with tensionfull of imagination." The show will be performed in Rome from May 29 to June 4.

Baldi Olier on Tour

The flamenco guitarist Baldi Olier will be on tour this spring, starting in Spain on April 7, at the Suristan Theater in Madrid. On the 10^th and the 11^th of April, he will perform in Paris.

In preparation for his European tour, Baldi is bursting with music. He has three recent discs, the last of which, "Mediterranean" is a collection offering his hallmark Spanish and flamenco music style; there is a delicate blend of gypsy and Rumanian influence as well. The arrangements are given lusty treatment together with flutist Hagit Rozmarin, accordionist Arik Rudich; as well as a violin, percussion, keyboards, bouzouki and oud.

The Rumanian-born Israeli guitarist originally made his name in the 70s and 80s as a flamenco guitarist, with his astounding energy and emotion, conveyed through his acoustic guitar. With no less emotion, he has branched out to gypsy, Mediterranean and world music, and added his sons Adam and Barak to his now one-through-three person group.

Rami Kleinstein in the US, Italy

Rami Kleinsteins songs are the ultimate example of Israels favored soft-pop musical genre. Sitting alone at the piano, he weaves melodies of a sweet, sing-along style. Nostalgia, love and family are his favorite song topics; he performs Billy Joel-like ballads (sometimes even playing a song of his), and tells stories about his life in the style of American folk singers. Kleinsteins personality, as much as his music, has won adoration from Israelis of many ages. He will be touring in the US through March 21, then performs in Italy in May.

Six Israeli publishing houses will attend the BookExpo America conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center from April 29 to May 2. Under the banner of Israel "Book Export," this group is lead by Gefen Publishing, which has participated in past years, and includes Aliya Press, the Jerusalem Publishing House, Password Publishing, Studio Old Jaffa, and the Magnes Press. The six publishers will exhibit a wide range of books, such as fiction, dictionaries, encyclopedias, art and Jewish history books. In celebration of their joint presence at the conference, the publishers will hold a reception on May 2, at their booths. Call Israel Book Export for details, at 972-3-514-2916. email: Isragefen@netmedia.net.il

Nash Didan

With the burgeoning growth of ethnic music in Israel, it sometimes seems that there is little new territory to be charted. But Nash Didan has an original twist: Drawing its material and inspiration from the Jewish tradition, the group sings in Aramaic.

The music has a strong Middle-Eastern flavor, but is mostly inspired by the linguistic and cultural heritage of a Jewish community that stretched from across Azerbaijan, Persia, Turkey and Russia. The community was known as Nash Didan ("Our People"); legend has it that its members fought to preserve the Jewish language they spoke and their heritage, until 1929 when 30,000 such Jews immigrated to Israel by any available means mostly on animals and by foot.

Nash Didan brings the styles of these different countries together; the lyrics are simultaneously spiritual, philosophical, and religious. Guitars and keyboards are accompanied by a violin and the occasional flute, all against the background of an array of percussion instruments. If the groups discs convey a flowing, undulating sound that is at once both calm and intense, the energy is multiplied five-fold in live performances. The mellow group turns into a raucous band of coordinated players (who also seem to multiply in numbers) who drum, strum, wail and croon. There is little resistance on the part of the audience which generally bursts into clapping, swaying and singing along with the charismatic music.

Nash Didan was the creation of Arik Mordechai. Mordechai himself was inspired by the stories of his mother, Esther a descendent of the Nash Didan community. His original goal was to preserve the Aramaic as it was guarded and cherished by this people; Mordechai says that with the release of this music to the world, "the circle is closed."

Batshevas Spring Program

The Batsheva Dance Company has a tradition of shocking audiences: choreographer Ohad Naharin is famous for fast-paced action on stage; acrobatic, sometimes absurd combinations of movement, props and dialogue between dancers. Outrageous costumes by Rakefet Levy have also become a trademark in recent years. Thus it is no less shocking, in a sense, that Naharins latest original choreography is stark, slow, and contemplative.

"Quotations to Businessmen from 1-9" has dancers moving to meditatively slow sequences, in decidedly bland, blue-gray outfits. The music is minimal; instead the space is dominated by a spoken text that Naharin himself has written. The words are a semi-surreal narrative describing modern situations and emotions in a collage of poetic intonation; includng bits of his trademark sense of humor.

The partial show held its world première in February, and the full production will be completed in the summer. Alongside "Quotations," Batshevas new program includes "Duo," by choreographer William Forsythe (originally written for the Frankfurt Ballet); and two works that have already stood the test of several seasons: "Black Milk," and "Perpetuum." Black Milk is an abstract work performed by five dancers; Perpetuum is a lavish celebration of costumes (by Rakefet Levy who also worked on "Black Milk" and "Quotations"), set, props and personalities on the dance floor.

Tadmors Neta Pays Tribute to Mother

Although Neta blends highlights from some of Ido Tadmors most successful works over the last few years, there are some markedly original elements to his latest choreography, which opened in December. The most noticeable is an enormous video screen as the stage backdrop; on it, a film detailing Tadmors life is sporadically projected. The cinematography of Nimrod Hirem, under Ran Kotzer as director, offers a series of on- and off-stage clips, including shots of home life with Tadmor; with both voice-over narrative and actual conversations or press/television clips.

Special effects meet real-time action as the video shows some of Tadmors previous works, whose movements the dancer then mimics on stage. The older bits are combined with brand-new dancing in a comfortable blend of old and original.

All the choreography, special effects, and typically minimalist costumes are part of a work designed to honor Tadmors mother, Neta. The dances shown in the film include scenes where Tadmor has danced with her; as well as scenes from childhood, motherhood, and adulthood. Finally, Neta appears with him on the stage. The only other dancers in this work are Noa Oz-Star, and Manuel Albequerque.

Tadmor comments about the production, "This dance deals much more with inner processes that I have gone through, searches between me and myself, than with any attempt to convey a social message, as in my other works."

Gesher Opens Third Original Production

"Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him." (I Kings 16:30) This foreshadowing of Ahabs degenerate character as King of Israel is fulfilled a few chapters later, when his story concludes, "Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord."

It would be hard to do all that evil alone; Ahab was helped in the task by his wife, Jezebel. This decadent and corrupt pair are lavishly portrayed by Amnon Wolf and Yevgenia Dodina ("Palestine Circus," "Gentilla") in a brand-new production by Gesher Theater, "Eating."

Ahab is king of Israel during the period when the monarchy was becoming an increasingly corrupt institution. The depths of its degeneracy are expressed in the story of the vineyard of Naboth. One day, Ahab decides that he would like to own the vineyard adjacent to his grounds in order to plant a vegetable garden. However, the owner, Naboth, does not wish to sell his vineyard to Ahab, who like a petulant child, becomes depressed and refuses to eat. Jezebel is a picture of queenly decadence, whose lust for power, hedonism and transcendence of the law are symbolized by her gross passion for gluttony. She reproaches Ahab for his inability to see the world in her undiplomatic way. Urging him to eat and return to his former self, she devises a plan to take possession the vineyard through a false charge that the owner has cursed God and the king.

The subsequent rise and fall of Ahabs fortunes, the ruin of Naboth and the ultimate demise of any remaining virtue in the monarchy reflect an exaggerated cynical, view of power and political rule.

Written by the late Yaakov Shabtai and first performed in 1979, the current production is a shockingly transparent metaphor for one or two of the bigger problems on the modern Israeli political scene. Its lesson, or polemic, for modern Israel, was not lost on anyone.

Ronny Someck and the "Multi-Instrumentalist"

Poet Ronny Someck and American musician Elliot Sharp have joined forces and merged their talents, producing a compact disc of poetry and music called "Revenge of the Stuttering Child." On the album, Someck performs 22 of his poems, to the accompaniment of what sounds like at least as many musical styles, performed by Elliot Sharp. The album blends influences, such as the impact of eastern and western culture on this Iraqi-born poets work; languages English and Hebrew as well as musical styles. Sharp, who calls himself a "multi-instrumentalist," plays the electric guitar and has synthesized other instruments into the arrangements; his music is at once avante-garde, jazz and rock.

Someck says that from the moment he heard Sharps music, he felt that it was the ideal representation of his poety. Other modes of art, such as music and visual art, are central to his creativity; borrowing Sharps terminology, Someck says that he, too, is a "multi-instrumentalist." "Perhaps this comes out in my poetry." Someck has been writing poetry for 30 years, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. He has often performed with musicians in the past, notably the ethnic/pop musician Miki Gavrielov (see Panim, Sept/Oct 1998). Nor is his interdisciplinary tendancy limited to music; Someck has also recently presented a visual art/poetry exhibit with Benni Efrat at the Israel Museum, called "Nature Factory."

His poetry definitely incorporates the confusion and shifting moods of urban life; accordingly the music is full of distortion, discord, grinding melodies and quiet respite. Something about this moody combination clearly appealed to audiences, because in 1999 the album was chosen"Wire" magazine as disc of the year, and the tour invitations are pouring in. His tour with Elliot Sharp has played to sold out venues in Israel and was a success at festivals in Austria and Paris; they will soon perform in Milwaukee, at the Knitting Factory in New York, and at several venues in Spain (see page 8).

Du-Oman Festival teams up with Teatronetto

In a festival coup, two of the more important theater events of recent years, the nine-year old Teatronetto and the one-year old Du-Oman (see Panim, Mar/Apr 98) have combined their resources. The result is one major festival, in late March, which extends from Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv to Haifa, in a joint production between the Jerusalem Theater, Habimah, and the Haifa Municipal Theater.

Special theatrical events were held throughout the festival; the event also included a play competition, special combinations of artists from different fields working together, and visiting performances. The Teatronetto competition included a new work by David Maayan, in his first production outside the Acre Theater, called Zach veAdom; a monodrama by Yitzhak Bar-Yosef called "Simon"; and a production written and acted by Habimah actress Rivka Gur, called "Flowers for the House."

Du-Oman was initiated a year ago as an attempt to promote interdisciplinary work. This year yielded a new show by Yevgeny Spovlov and Baldi Olier; "Senility," a stand up-drag-comedy show that was produced by "two anonymous men," featuring a witty cabaret full of favorite female figures, from politicians to sex symbols. Uri Hochman, who currently stars in the Fringe Theaters "Missing Kissinger," based on the stories of Etgar Keret, performs in a new work called "Live Song," alongside percussionist Ziv Eitan. Acre Theater presented Boer.

History Comes Home

Nearly 1,500 years ago, a set of caves serving as a burial ground in Jerusalems Kidron Valley was sealed and forgotten. Carved into the limestone rock in an area called Akeldama, they contained Jewish tombs from Jerusalem families at the end of the Second Temple period, right up to 70 CE, when the Temple was razed and the Jews expelled. Following the expulsion, pagan Roman soldiers were interred in the caves, and still later, Byzantine monks were buried in the same site. Fortunately for archaeologists, none of the successive waves of burials uprooted or disturbed the previous ones.

In 1989 the site was discovered, and its impeccably preserved contents were excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Authority then organized an exhibit, curated by Hava Katz and Ayala Zussman, called "Akeldama." The display includes oil lamps, gold jewelry, glass bottles and ossuaries, and as a traveling exhibit, packing cases were carefully designed to complement the items. After being shown throughout Europe and the US, "Akeldama" now returns to its country of origin, opening at the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem on March 26 and remaining until early June.

Arikha Exhibit to Scotland

A comprehensive retrospective of the work of Avigdor Arikha, combining two major exhibits of his paintings and drawings, will be mounted in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh from March through May.

Arikhas artistic vocation began as a child, in his native Moldova. He settled in Palestine in 1944, and embarked upon a prolific career as a painter, curator and art historian.

Throughout the years, his work and artistic styles have ranged from abstract scenes, portraits, still life, drawings in pencil and ink, and landscapes. All of these periods are represented in the two exhibits that will appear in Scotland. The exhibit of drawings, which opened at the Tel Aviv Museum, contains portraits of Arikhas wife and daughters and personal friends, such as Samuel Beckett, S.Y. Agnon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Peter Serkin, etc. The text accompanying the exhibit describes his philosophy of art in his own words, and conveys his dramatic return to figurative art after an abstract beginning.

Arikhas paintings were displayed in the Israel Museum; the exhibit contains his signature stark portraits, as well as his self-portraits; still-life paintings of his home and environment. The paintings for both exhibits were borrowed from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Louvre, the Uffizi, the National Gallery, the Tate, etc. An accompanying catalogue contains essays by Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Mark Jordan and Yona Fischer. The combined exhibit will be shown in Edinburgh from March 14-May 9.

New Documentary Funding

Documentary films are the theme of spring this year: Not only is the Cinemathèque holding its first documentary festival, but there is suddenly new funding available for making documentary films. The New Fund for Cinema and Television and the Second Television Authority have created a "Social Fund," to help produce documentaries about Israeli society. Already, 100 candidates have sent in proposals, from which ten will be chosen to receive funding. Thus, ten new films will be produced in the next year, which will depict and communicate the reality of Israeli life.

Israeli Culture Internet Site

"Axioma" is the name of a brand-new internet site devoted to Israeli culture and entertainment. Started by journalists Emanuel Bar Kedma and Tami Zilberg, the site will include articles and information on Israeli culture, as well as critiques and recommendations. The subjects to be covered include jazz, rock, and film; fashion, design, tourism and food. This site will include original articles by journalists Yossi Shiffman, Haim Nagid and Amit Levinson.
http://www.axioma.co.il/

Israel Theater Prizes

The Cameri Theatre is at the top of the list this year, with 24 nominations for awards. The Haifa Municipal Theater is next, with 14. Other companies in the top running include Beit Lessin, the Beersheba Theater, and the Khan Theater. Gesher, Yiddishpiel and Habimah are also up for prizes. Ironically, the playwrights in the running for best plays are Yehoshua Sobol ("Ghetto") and Hanoch Levin ("Labor of Life"), both nominated for works that were first performed in the 1980s.