High Noon

Adapted from "I Didn’t Execute the Mission" by Arieh Segev
Written and directed by Shmuel Vilozhny
performed by Yiftach Klein

In September 1973, for the first time, Corporal Asher Solomon was assigned to reserve service at “Bolivia B”, one of the fortified outposts along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal. On the second day of the Yom Kippur War he was taken prisoner by the Egyptian army, together was all the forts’ soldiers who were still alive. After forty-five days in captivity he is repatriated and taken to an R & R facility for three weeks, to rest under medical supervision, but mainly for an intensive interrogation by military field security on the circumstances of his capture. The offensive and degrading encounter between Asher and the interrogator leads to a head-on confrontation, taking Asher back to the terrible days of his captivity. The play is based on a true story.
"High Noon" was awarded first prize at the 2004 Theaternetto Festival.

The Cameri Theatre

Established over 60 years ago, as Israel’s first Hebrew-language repertory theatre, the Cameri has been dubbed the “theatre of social responsibility.‿ Identified with the nation’s conscience and mood, throughout the years its plays have exposed the thoughts, hopes, fears, anxieties, and conflicts, of the diverse strata, which make up the mosaic of Israeli society.

The New Cameri Theatre Arts Centre

The recently opened premises of the New Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv--the largest theatre centre in Israel--are situated in the Performing Arts Complex, in the heart of Tel Aviv. It abuts the New Israeli Opera, and is adjacent to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Beit Ariella—Tel Aviv’s central library. The extraordinary 11,000 square-meter Centre, funded by Mifal Hapayis, Israel’s National Lottery, and the Municipality of Tel Aviv, comprises diverse elements and spaces. These include three theatre halls--a 950-seat Auditorium, a 450-seat Hall, and a 200-seat “black box�?; a Cafe-Teatron, situated in a multi-purpose foyer, to be used for theatrical and literary cabarets; rehearsal halls; dressing rooms; workshops and storage facilities; and administrative offices. The Centre’s inaugural celebrations, running from autumn 2002 to winter 2003, will feature, among others, leading Israeli and international theatre groups

Theatre for All

The Cameri has a long tradition of focusing on target populations, beyond its annual subscribers--audiences whom it deems important to expose and involve in the theatrical expression of Israel’s national dilemmas, outlook, soul searching and internal conflicts, as well as audiences, who for reasons of physical or mental disabilities, are prevented from experiencing the performing arts. In efforts to reach out to audiences who have neither the natural inclination, nor the tradition of theatre-going, nor the financial means to pay the full ticket price--the Theatre has invested in subsidizing tickets for target audiences in Tel Aviv and in outlying areas around the country: high school and university students, soldiers, new Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular. Following many of its performances, the Theatre conducts moderated discussions, with audience participation, to probe issues raised by the plays. Panel participants comprise Israel’s leading literary, media & public figures.
The Cameri has initiated and runs, diverse theatrical performances and experiences, aimed at promoting peace and co-existence--between Jews and Arabs in Israel, through diverse theatrical programs, it has brought to the fore, issues pertaining to war and peace and their impact on Israeli society; rendered its plays accessible to Arabic speakers, through simultaneous translation and theatrical productions in Israeli Arab towns and villages; exposed Israeli Jewish audiences to Arabic plays in Hebrew translation, and much much more. The Cameri has been particularly heartened by the immensely positive response to its Peace Experience Project, which brings Jewish & Arab Israelis, to the Cameri, for a shared theatrical experience that seeks to identify commonalties, rather than to emphasize differences which separate and alienate Jews and Arabs from one another.

Hanoch Levin "Ya'acobi and Leidental"

directed by Joseph Carmon
translated by Michael Sobelman
music Alex Kagan
set design and costumes by Ruth Dar
lighting by Szmulik Asaji
cast
David Leidental - Rami Baruch
Itamar Ya’acobi - Dror Keren
Ruth Shahash - Tikki Dayan
pianist - Mischa Blacherovitz
more info