Yuval Rozman (; born 1984) is an Israeli

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, director, and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Youth and arrival to France

Rozman was born in 1984 in

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 ...

into a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

religious

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 ...

family. He wrote his first play at the age of 18. Yuval Rozman trained at the Tel Aviv Conservatory. He deserted the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

during his military service while deployed in

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

. His 2010 play, ''Cabaret Voltaire'', featuring Palestinian actor

Mohammad Bakri Mohammad Bakri (born 1953; , ) is a Palestinian actor and film director. Personal life Bakri was born in the village of Bi'ina in Israel. He went to elementary school in his hometown and received his secondary education in the nearby city of A ...

, received numerous awards in

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 ...

. He was opposed to

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

's policies and expressed this in his plays. In 2012, he decided to leave

for

Career

His plays focus on the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis (; ) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure, followed by other ethnic and ...

and the issue of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, among other topics, but are not limited to these themes. In 2017, he presented ''Tunnel Boring Machine'', a comedy exploring the journey of a Palestinian and an Israeli in the Gaza tunnels. On 26 November 2019, he visited the

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

hospital center to read his texts and engage with patients. In 2018, he directed ''HATE'' with

Lætitia Dosch Laetitia Dosch (; born 1 September 1980) is a French-Swiss actress. Her film credits include ''Age of Panic'', ''Keeper (2015 film), Keeper'', ''Summertime (2015 film), Summertime'', ''Montparnasse Bienvenue (film), Montparnasse Bienvenue'', and ...

. In 2020, Yuval Rozman directed ''The Jewish Hour'', a reflection on Jewish identity. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

impacted the project, but he still won the Impatience Prize. Regarding this play, he stated, "It was in France that I discovered I was Jewish". After the start of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, a performance of ''The Jewish Hour'' was canceled following the

2023 Brussels shooting The 2023 Brussels shooting was an Islamism, Islamist terrorist attack carried out at about 19:15 (CEST) on 16 October when Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisians, Tunisian living illegally in Brussels, Belgium, opened fire on Swedes, Swedis ...

. Speaking about the war, Yuval Rozman said in the media: "On one hand, of course, condemn

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, terrorism, and all its horrors directed not against the Israeli people, but against Jews, and at the same time, acknowledge that there is a responsibility of the Israeli government, that there is still an occupation, Israeli war crimes". In 2023, he presented a new play, ''Ahouvi'', about the romantic relationship between an Israeli woman and a Frenchman.

Works

* 2005 :''Sous un ciel bleu et des nuages blancs'' * 2010 :''Cabaret Voltaire'' * 2015 : ''Un Album'' * 2017 :''Tunnel Boring Machine'' * 2018 : ''HATE'' * 2021 :''The Jewish Hour'' * 2023 :''Ahouvi''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozman, Yuval 1984 births Living people Writers from Tel Aviv Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli male stage actors Israeli theatre directors Israeli expatriates in France Jewish Israeli dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Israeli male writers 21st-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Israeli Jews