The show must go on: Theaters to take performances outside
Lacking permission for indoor performances, Suzanne Dellal, Khan Theater, Hansen House and others put together summer season of outdoor events
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
With permission not quite granted for theaters and performance spaces to fully open their doors, several troupes are taking their performances outside for now, where distances can be kept and it’s easier to keep a mask on.
Dance troupe Vertigo will perform their iconic work “Birth of the Phoenix” in the outdoor courtyard of Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Dellal Center on June 30 and July 1, with two performances on each night, one at 7:30 p.m. for the family and another at 9:30 p.m.
“Birth of the Phoenix” is considered a mythological dance for Vertigo, performed thousands of times by the troupe on a floor scattered with soil that becomes a part of the performance.
Vertigo choreographer Noa Wertheim will meet with audiences before each performance for a chat and some movement.
Jerusalem’s Khan Theater is also heading to the great outdoors in July and August, with performances of some of the theater’s most beloved plays on the grassy expanse of the Ben Hinnom Valley, in the amphitheater of the Gan Hapaamon Theater and along the winding staircases and sidewalks of Yemin Moshe.
Subsidized NIS 10 tickets are available for health workers, and a full calendar is available on the Khan Theater website.
Jerusalem arts center Beit Hansen is offering Unplugged on the Patio, a summer of outdoor musical events featuring Israeli artists, alongside some of the city’s favorite restaurants.
Performers include trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Tomer Yosef, Neta Elkayam, Riff Cohen and Shai Tsabari, but buy those tickets quickly because many of the intimate evenings are already sold out.
When concerts were outlawed due to the coronavirus, local promoter Guy Itzhaki decided to get creative with a series of Hatzer Hashuk or Courtyard Unplugged, small, intimate performances held in the joint courtyards of neighborhood restaurants and cafes.
He has The Giraffes, Karolina and Asaf Amdursky lined up for his courtyard in Kfar Saba, and Maor Cohen, Shuli Rand and Lola Marsh in Pardes Hanna, from late June through early July. Ticket prices range from NIS 66 to NIS 88, including one drink at the bar.
If you don’t feel like donning a mask and sitting outside, spend a week listening to young writers and thinkers talk about books, themes and ideas at Mishkenot Sha’ananim‘s “Live (or Life) in a Book.” The speakers include writers Maayan Eitan, Daniela Spector, Roni Gross, Neta Weiner and others. The events will take place on Facebook Live, on June 28 through July 2, at 9 p.m. each evening.
