The Habima Theatre ( ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and one of the first

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

theatres. It is located in

Habima Square Habima Square (, lit. ''The Stage's Square'', also known as The Orchestra Plaza) is a major public space in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, which is home to a number of cultural institutions such as the Habima Theatre, the Culture Palace (Tel Avi ...

in the center of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

History

Habima was founded as an amateur troup by Nahum Lazarevich Tsemakh (Hebrew: Naḥum Tsemaḥ; 1887–1939) in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

(then in

Grodno Governorate Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

) in 1912. Menahem Gnessin was one of its cofounders and early actors. Because its performances were 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 ...

, invoked the Jewish folk tradition, and dealt with issues of the Jewish people, soon it was banned by Russian authorities, and the theatre troupe was forced to become a travelling one. Beginning in 1918, the theatre operated under the auspices of the

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...

, which some consider its actual beginning. It encountered difficulties under the Soviet government as well, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Konstantin Stanislavsky arranged for the mainly Jewish Polish actors to be trained by

Yevgeny Vakhtangov Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene; ; 13 February 1883 – 29 May 1922) was a Russian actor and theatre director who founded the Vakhtangov Theatre. He was a friend and mentor of Michael Chekhov.Martin BanhamThe ...

. The

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

for Nationalities Affairs,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, also authorized the theatre's creation. However, the Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to Habima, branding it counter-revolutionary.

International tour

In 1926, the theatre left the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to tour abroad, in countries including Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.Ivanov, Vladislav (August 10, 2010). �
Habimah
��. '' YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe''. yivoencyclopedia.org. Translated from Russian by I. Michael Aronson; revised by Alice Nakhimovsky and Michael C. Steinlauf. Retrieved 2018-06-05. Their productions met with great success. In 1927, the company split up, with Zemach and some of the actors choosing to stay in the U.S.

Lodz Impact

The theatre staff visited the city of Lodz, and the pre-war photographer and artist

Mendel Grossman Mordka Mendel Grossman was born on 27 June 1913 in Gorzkowice, Piotrków Governorate, Russian Empire (today Poland). He died on 30 April 1945, during the death marches. He was a photographer and worker in the Statistical Department of the Litzm ...

, photographed the actors and actresses from the wings of the stage. His life was changed as a result of the visit of the theatre.

Establishment in Palestine

Other members of the theatre took the company to

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

in 1928.Politzer, Heinz (August 1948).
Habimah in New York: A Great Theater Enters a New Period
". ''Commentary Magazine''. Retrieved 2017-03-06. In the 1928–29 season there, the Habima Players presented two plays, both under the direction of

Aleksei Dikiy Aleksei Dikiy () (24 February 1889 – 1 October 1955) was a Soviet actor and director who worked at Moscow Art Theatre and later worked with Habima Jewish theatre in Tel Aviv. He was arrested and imprisoned in Gulag under the dictatorship of J ...

, from the Moscow Art Theatre. The first production, ''Ha-otsar'' (The Treasure), a translation of

Sholem Aleichem Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (; May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish language, Yiddish and , also spelled in Yiddish orthography#Reform and standardization, Soviet Yiddish, ; Russian language, Russian and ), ...

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

play ''Der Oytser'', premiered on December 29, 1928. The second production, which premiered on May 23, 1929, in Tel Aviv, was ''Keter David'' (David's Crown), an adaptation by Hebrew writer Isaac Lamdan of ''The Hair of Absalom'' (''Los cabellos de Absalón''), by the 17th-century Spanish dramatist Calderón. In 1930 the company traveled to Berlin, Germany, where it produced Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night'', directed by

Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (; 16 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was a Russian-American actor, Theatre director, director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov an ...

, and Karl Gutzkow's ''Uriel Acosta'', under the direction of Alexander Granovski. The company finally settled in Palestine in 1931. In 1945, it built a theatre in Tel Aviv, which it occupied before completion.

National Theatre of Israel

Habima has been officially considered the national theatre of Israel since 1958, the year in which it received the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for theatre. This was the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization. In the 21st century, Habima employs 80 actors, and another 120 staff members work at the complex.

Restoration

In January 2012, the theatre reopened after four and a half years of renovations.Shohat, Zipi (November 21, 2011).
Curtain Rises over Tel Aviv's Newly Renovated Habima Theater
. ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

''. haaretz.com. Retrieved 2017-03-06. Architect Ram Karmi was commissioned to redesign the historic building. More than NIS 100 million was invested in the makeover, which has added 500 square meters of floor space and three new rehearsal rooms. The building's four auditoriums were completely rebuilt.Habima Architect Tells Critics: 'Kiss My Ass'
(October 11, 2010). ''Haaretz''. haaretz.com. Retrieved 2017-03-06. Each is a different size and color: Rovina is blue and seats 930 people; Meskin is lavender and seats 320; Bertonov (also known as Bamartef) is green and seats 220; and Habima 4 (formerly known as Heineken) is wood panelled and seats 170.

Other theaters

* Solomon Stramer's

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; na ...

troupe in

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the 1920s was also called ''Habimah.''

References

* Levy, Emanuel. The Habima, 1917-1977: A Study of Cultural Nationalism. Columbia University Press, 1979.

External links

Official siteThe tale of habima
{{Authority control Theatres in Tel Aviv Theatre companies in Israel National theatres Jewish theatres Israel Prize in theatre recipients Israel Prize recipients that are organizations Arts organizations established in 1918 1918 establishments in British-administered Palestine Culture in Tel Aviv Tourist attractions in Tel Aviv