HaNephesh Theater is a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

fringe theater Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

established in 1978 by Howard Rypp and Gabriel Emanuel in

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. At the time of its founding, HaNefesh was the only professional Jewish

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

in Canada, where it produced approximately 40 theatrical and television productions. In 1980 the theater produced its first play, ''Children of the Night''. The play, which tells the story of

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish pediatrician, educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). He ...

, was featured in the first International Jewish Theater Festival in

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. In 1983, Rypp immigrated to Israel, bringing the theater with him. The theater's first production in

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was Emanuel's joint production with

Habima Theater The Habima Theatre ( ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History Habima was founded as an ...

called ''Einstein''. It was translated into several languages, and in 2005 was performed in New York on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. From 1988 to 1994 Yitzchak Meshel served as the theater's dramaturge and conducted 7 of its plays. Since 1995 Beatriz Hal serves as the theater's dramaturge. The theater is recognized and supported by Israel's Ministry of Culture. The theater conducts educational plays that focus on various social conflicts in Israeli society, for example between the religious and secular communities, new and veteran Olim, and

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s and Jews. Its productions shed light on human experiences and promote the values of dialogue, tolerance, and mutual respect. The theater's repertoire currently includes 16 plays in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and five in

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, which the organization hopes to produce worldwide. The theater conducts roughly 300 plays every year all over Israel, for people of diverse backgrounds and age groups. In addition, the theater has conducted over 200 performances overseas at international festivals, professional conventions, and universities for Jewish audiences and other groups.

Repertoire

*''Hana's Suitcase'' won an ASSITEJ prize for best interdisciplinary play for 2010–2011. *''One of a Kind'' won first prize at the

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Festival for Children's Plays. It was conducted in 2008 in

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(mostly on Broadway), and in 2011 in

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. *''Gimpel the Fool'' is a play based on the life story of Isaac Bashevis Singer, represented Israel at the Fringe Theater Festival in

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, and was performed in

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, and the

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. *''It Sounds Better in

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

'' is an extended monologue by Yossi Vasa, which tells the story of

Ethiopian Jews Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara and Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominant ...

and their mass immigration to Israel. It was performed in

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, Canada, the

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, and

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References

External links

HaNepesh Theater's websiteTheater on HaBama website
{{authority control Theatres in Israel Jewish theatres Jewish Canadian culture Fringe theatre Arts organizations established in 1978 Theatre companies in Israel

Repertoire

See also

References

External links