The Israeli Embassy in Georgia initiated a project to publish an anthology of Israeli plays written by women, and transferred 15 of them to Bakur Sulakaur Publishing, the prestigious Georgian publishing house for publication in the Georgian language.
The local partners selected five plays that deal with issues that are also relevant to the Georgian public: "True Love" by Sharon Stark, "Secrets" by Hadar Galron, "Oh, My God" by Anat Gov, "Selichot" by Hannah-Azoulay-Hesperi and "Revolutionaries' Wives" by Yossefa Even-Shoshan and Dalia Shimko.
The plays deal with a variety of contemporary issues, including the relevance of the institution of marriage to the 21st century, sexuality & gender, the place of the individual within a politicized society, religion vs. secularism and the role of women in a male-dominated environment.
Shimrit Ron, director of the Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama, was instrumental in contacting the creators, transferring the texts and handling copyright issues.
Following the publication of the anthology, the Embassy contacted the prestigious Royal District Theatre – considered avant-garde and extremely popular among bohemians, youth and the educated urban class – in order to produce short videos of selected scenes from the Israeli plays.
On December 29, 2021, a festive launch evening of the project was held, which included a screening of the videos and the publication of the book. The evening featured a screening of sections of "Secrets," "True Love," "Oh My God," and "Selichot." In addition, a complete public reading of the play "The Revolutionaries' Wives" was held. The event took place in the presence of theatergoers, intellectuals and guests of the Embassy, who responded with great enthusiasm to the texts.
A complete theatrical production of one of the plays is planned for the end of 2022, to be fully funded by the Israeli Embassy in Tbilisi.
Israeli Ambassador Ran Gidor said, "I am particularly proud of this project, not only because of the significant content of the selected plays and their artistic uniqueness, but also because it is an opportunity for cultural cooperation with added social value. In Georgia – as in Israel – there has been impressive progress in recent years in terms of women's empowerment, legislation for greater equality, and the protection of their rights. However, there is still a very long way to go – especially in those societies characterized by a "macho" mentality and a constant tension between religion and tradition and liberal values. The aforementioned project, which includes the publication of an anthology, theatrical production and videos, encourages an open and courageous artistic-cultural dialogue on issues that sometimes tend to be pushed to the margins."