An urban puppet troupe speaks everyone’s language

The nonverbal Koom-koom Theater group finds an eager audience among Jerusalem’s Jewish and Palestinian schoolchildren

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The Koom-Koom Theater troupe
The Koom-Koom Theater troupe

Several dozen schoolgirls dressed in navy blue pinafores filed into the theater, giggling and glancing around as they settled themselves into the red upholstered seats.

The students, fifth and sixth graders from a school in Shuafat, the Palestinian refugee camp outside Jerusalem, were late for the Thursday morning performance at Jerusalem’s Gerard Behar Theater. That wasn’t a surprise, given the delays that often take place at checkpoints between Palestinian and Israeli territory.

“It always happens,” said Andrei Urbakh, who directs the Koom-Koom Theater, the quirky puppet troupe hosting the school. “Especially now, when security is so tight.”

Despite the change in schedule, the troupe — which consisted of Urbakh, his wife and co-producer Katia Urbakh, and the two actors performing with them on this particular morning — was relaxed while waiting for the school group. The upcoming performance was of one of seven shows Koom-Koom (which means “teapot” in Hebrew) performs regularly for schools around the country.

This is a puppet theater that anyone can understand.

All of Koom-Koom’s shows are wordless, relying on oversize puppets, exaggerated gestures, musical score and sounds to relay their stories.

Watching Koom-Koom Theater's 'SOS' in Jerusalem's Gerard Behar Theater (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
Watching Koom-Koom Theater’s ‘SOS’ in Jerusalem’s Gerard Behar Theater (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

On this Thursday morning, the performance was “SOS” or “Stay Out of Screen,” a cautionary tale about the overuse of screens, from phones and computers to TV, the giant screen of life.

As the lights went down in the theater, one of the teachers stood in front of the girls, reminding them in Arabic to turn off their phones for the performance. The girls giggled and quickly complied.

The show, funny and quirky, used physical gags as well as an avant garde, Russian charm that wasn’t lost on its Arab audience.

The girls laughed at the appropriate times, guffawing when the actors snored in their beanbag chairs, clapping enthusiastically, and holding up their silenced iPhones and iPads to record brief videos of the 50-minute performance.

The play joined two somewhat separate topics, the overuse of screen time and the global desire for celebrity demonstrated by popular reality TV shows like “The Voice” and “A Star is Born.” It also created a conversation that continues even as the kids head back to school, said Urbakh, who converses with the audience after the show.

“It’s about communication and where are we on that issue,” he said. “There’s nothing about coexistence, because our topics are for everyone, pretty much everywhere.”

At the same time, Koom-Koom’s idiosyncratic approach tends to work particularly well with Jerusalem audiences, whether Jewish or Arab, said Urbakh.

“It’s easier to do things that aren’t mainstream here,” he said. “Tel Aviv is more flashy but Jerusalem audiences have more patience to see the story through. They don’t need lights and action all the time.”

Andrei Urbakh and the Koom-Koom troupe with their oversized puppets (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
Andrei Urbakh and the Koom-Koom troupe with their oversize puppets (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

It’s one of the reasons why the Urbakhs decided to make Jerusalem their professional and personal home.

Andrei Urbakh, a lanky man with a halo of brown curls, looks a tad clownish even when offstage, with his wide eyes and sharp, energetic manner. Katia Urbakh has a similar energy, constantly shifting between the characters she plays and her movement of props and scenes while onstage.

The two met at Jerusalem’s School of Visual Theater, where they earned degrees in industrial design (he) and theater (she), and were looking to create nonverbal, physical shows that could be taken on the road.

Immediately after graduation, their alma mater sent them and their first show — based on their final project — abroad to six European festivals.

Like their other shows that followed, that initial performance offered a humorous approach to serious topics, and was easily applicable to a more youthful audience, said Urbakh.

“We had something that naturally connected to kids,” he said. “It was something more natural for us.”

They decided to remain based in Jerusalem with Koom-Koom, aiming to help theater culture flourish in the city and working closely with the municipality and the Jerusalem Foundation to broaden their reach to local schools.

Andrei Urbakh (far left) and his fellow actors onstage in Koom-Koom's performance of 'SOS,' or xxx (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
Andrei Urbakh (far left) and his fellow actors onstage in Koom-Koom’s performance of ‘SOS,’ or ‘Stay Out of Screen’ (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

After winning several national prizes, they began receiving Culture Ministry funding, a welcome source of income that allowed them to be included in Jerusalem Municipality-supported cultural programs in schools.

That crucial source of financial support is currently being threatened, as the ministry is planning to cut off their support for 2016 for reasons they don’t completely understand, said Urbakh. If the ministry support is halted, the municipality’s financial support will have to end as well according to the law.

Urbakh is fighting the decision, but doesn’t plan to give up on Koom-Koom.

“Even if we lose our funding, we can make money. But we probably won’t be able to do it in Jerusalem, and I’m not sure about Israel, either,” he said. “We’ll survive, but we won’t be able to be a Jerusalem troupe. It’s a malfunctioning system here.”

He shrugged, his face pensive for the moment.

Then his phone rang.

“You’re here? You got through the checkpoint? Great. See you soon,” he said.

The morning’s second group of schoolkids had arrived from another elementary school in Jabel Mukaber — an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem from where have come several assailants in a recent wave of Palestinian violence against Israelis.

With that, Urbakh bounded on stage, plopping himself down on one of the two red beanbag chairs.

“This is what we do,” he said. “It’s how we coexist.”
Koom-Koom’s next event will be during Hanukkah, featuring “Hanukkappening,” and their show, “Long, Short and Twisted.” Friday, December 11, 11 am — 1 pm, Gerard Behar Theater, Jerusalem, with workshops and street shows. For information about upcoming Koom-Koom performances, head to the troupe’s Facebook page.

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