Cardboard boxes with dates written large on them, a soccer, two armchairs and a horse – the latter a prop from another play – that’s all Ido Shaked and Hannan Ishay need to set off extraordinary stage fireworks.
The two actors and directors presented their latest play “A Handbook FOR THE ISRAELI THEATRE DIRECTOR IN EUROPE” at the ‘wortwiege’ festival in the Kasematten in Wiener Neustadt under the label ‘Théâtre Majâz’. Both are from Israel and left their country a few years ago – Ido Shaked to settle in Paris and Hannan Ishay to study and work in Austria. However, he now lives with his family in Tel Aviv again and can report first-hand on the situation there.
A HANDBOOK FOR THE ISRAELI THEATRE DIRECTOR IN EUROPE (Foto: Julia Kampichler)
The show, which is conducted in the style of a double conférence, arose from the idea of talking about Israel and what is happening there on stage, as the two men are always asked what is going on there when they travel. So they took advantage of the lack of information to contribute to a better understanding of the events with their view of the developments. And they did this using the medium they know best: theater.
After just a few moments on stage, it becomes clear that Ido and Hannan are throwing their arguments, peppered with plenty of humor and side-swipes, at each other with such speed that you are happy to hear their easily understandable English. Supertitles or subtitles would be completely pointless in this constellation, but their conversation is so well paced that even audiences who don’t speak English on a daily basis have no difficulty following them.
They talk about politics as well as soccer or food, they talk about Israel as an occupying power as well as the fact that they are not allowed or able to talk about many things. Partly because it contradicts the raison d’état, partly because they themselves do not know how to deal with a development whose spirals of violence are inevitably driven upwards.
A HANDBOOK FOR THE ISRAELI THEATRE DIRECTOR IN EUROPE (Foto: Julia Kampichler)
As difficult as the situation in her home country is and as hard as it may be to believe that an evening about Israel can be staged in a peppery, spicy way that offers the audience the highest level of entertainment, the endeavor is plausible. When asked whether they would even be in a position to perform their play in Europe in view of the current outbreaks of violence from both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, they both respond with an unequivocal “Yes! How else are we supposed to deal with this situation if not by reflecting on stage!”
The anti-Semitic trend in Europe is addressed just as much as the feeling of being torn apart. Torn between the luxury of living abroad, but at the same time not having the opportunity to take part in anti-government demonstrations in Israel. Ido and Hannan are aware that their venture on stage could be doomed to failure at any moment, but they are professionals enough to ensure that this does not happen. Their witty pas de deux captivates, affects and invites laughter at the same time, leaving the audience with plenty of feelings and even more food for thought.
“What are you going to do? Go away? Stay?” Ido asks his colleague Hannan at the end, who has no conclusive answer. Instead, they embed their final reflections in the great European myths such as those of Odysseus and Troy, the city that was reduced to ashes, thereby locating the horror and suffering, but also the resurrection from the dust, in those millennia-old tales that are just as valid today as they were in antiquity.
What a wonderful reference to the host “wortwiege”, which also repeatedly takes up ancient material in its festivals to illustrate exactly the same thing. Rating: Absolutely worth seeing!
