Rape and political corruption were laid bare in The Girl, directed by Dalia Shimko, as the production explored the abduction of Persephone (Limor Hadria) by Hades (Haggai Cohen and Yuval Nachmias in a shared role) in conjunction with a contemporary plot mirroring betrayal and violation.
A rowing team visiting a Greek island to compete in the Olympics gang-rapes a young tourist called Leda (Hadria in a double role). The play’s title is derived from Kore, "girl" in Greek, which was the goddess’s name before she was dragged to Hades and renamed “the destroyer of light” (Persephone).
In the mythic layer of the play, the Earth-goddess Demeter (Esti Zakheim), the mother of Kore, refuses to let anything grow until her daughter returns. Zakheim gave a powerful performance, and her rage at Zeus (Guy Alperovitch) for offering his own daughter as “warm, living flesh” to his brother – Kore’s uncle who delighted her as a child with his dark sense of humor – was palpable. The abduction and rape – which connect the living and the dead – summer and winter are just the sky-god’s means of doing business.
Alperovitch gave a wonderful performance. His cloud-gatherer is self-pitying and conniving. His only reason to appease Demeter is self-preservation. Starved men don’t bring him offerings, and scrawny women are not to his liking.
Unlike the mythical world, where a mother’s love and devotion crack open the gates of hell to allow her daughter to rise up each spring and enjoy the sun’s warmth, in the realistic storyline, the young woman is pressured by the police to withdraw charges.
The team’s captain (Uri Perelman as John) is never punished for his crime and remains a narcissist. This is a fitting match to the narcissus flower that, in the mythic portion of the production, seduces Kore to pluck it and leads her to the abyss.
Persephone is one of a few people in the Greek myths able to move between the realm of the dead and those who draw breath. The others include Orpheus, who goes to hell and back for love, and Odysseus.
Without “dread Persephone,” the Greek hero would never have been able to return home because the person he goes to Hades to meet and seek advice from, Tiresias, only kept his mind after death because the goddess wanted him to. “To him, even in death, Persephone has granted reason, that he alone should have understanding, but the others flit about as shadows,” Homer sang.
Gad Kaynar inhabits the role of Tiresias in an ambitious new production directed by Marat Parkhomovsky. Titled The Tragedies of Oedipus, the entire Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles is offered in one sitting. Patrons can watch Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone in succession. The decision to cast Kaynar, a retired theater studies professor, as the person who knows more than anyone else on stage was a lovely touch.
Ancient retellings
First performed during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, the Greek tragedy was performed for Hebrew speakers before the State of Israel even existed.
In his 1947 review, theater critic Haim Gamzu noted that the statue of Dionysus was placed among the theater seats during the annual celebration in Athens so that the god could enjoy an excellent show or two as well.
Gamzu suggested that the concept of a classic play is linked to an artistic archaism that “reveals to us the eternal problems of man, yet still has enough talent to steer the flow of that ancient river to the current of the present moment.”
This production also has Amitai Kedar inhabit the lead role in Oedipus at Colonus. Kedar, wearing a traditional white mask, presents us with a sensitive study of an old man who was crushed by the gods, sought refuge and protection in Athens, yet remained mentally intact – with all his flaws.
Oedipus curses his son, Polynices, that he will die when he attempts to take over Thebes. The young man (Rea Dasheh) turns to his sister and asks that she will make sure he is buried at home. Antigone (Tamar Alkan) promises him she will do just that.
Sadly, the next ruler of Thebes decides that those who raised a sword against their city do not deserve to be buried and promises to execute anyone who tries to bury Polynices. This is the conflict that fuels the last play in this cycle.
The Girl will be performed on Monday, December 16, at 8 p.m. NIS 180 per ticket. The Tragedies of Oedipus will be performed on Friday, November 29, with Oedipus Tyrannus (10:30 a.m.), Oedipus at Colonus (Noon), and Antigone (1:30 p.m.). NIS 130 for the entire cycle, NIS 70 for one show. The Habima National Theater, 2 Tarsat Ave., Tel Aviv. Call (03) 6295555 to book.