gaal, arnulf, and reneighssance. It's based on the novel by the same name, written by the well-known Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. I've read the book a couple of years ago (during my trip to Poland, actually), and thought it was quite good. I was curious to see a staged version, especially as this production is by the Gesher theater, the best theatrical group in Israel.The acting was quite good; I've seen Demidov, who played Klein (and God, amusingly), do better, actually, but the rest were quite, quite good, including Mirkurbanov who starred as Adam Stein. I remember having also enjoyed Mirkurbanov starring in Brecht's A Threepenny Opera a couple of years ago. The staging was quite impressive, using strong visual elements of the circus (appropriate for the play's theme and loci), and the actors were quite acrobatic. The hallucinatory sense was achieved, and all in all, I was positively impressed with the adaptation. Unsurprisingly, I still prefer the book.
A couple of months ago,
cinamon dragged us to the aforementioned Gesher theater to watch two short plays by Brian Friel, based on stories by Chekhov. The first was "The Yalta Game", based on Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog". The actors were Yehezkel Lazarov and Efrat Ben-Zur, and it was simply fantastic! Just a perfect pearl of a play! They both acted with superb comicality and impeccable timing, and it was obvious that they enjoy working together. It is just as apparent that Evgeny Arie, the Gesher house director, really knows his business; his directing of this play was absolutely brilliant. It's been a long time since I enjoyed myself this much at the theater.Advice for life: let
cinamon drag you places whenever possible!And briefly:
- my kingdom for Giraudoux's La Guerre de Troie N'Aura Pas Lieu in a language I can read!
- I've just discovered that said Mirkurbanov starred in a one-man show based on Erofeev's Moscow-Petushki(!). Alas, it was four years ago, and only in Russian. (must pick up Russian already!)
update: Ah yes, I've already mentioned The Yalta Game, nearer the event. Serves me right for having so many unwritten entries in my head -- I forget the ones I have written up!
