RAT THEATRE COMPANY JERUSALEM in ESTHER (a3)

[Bobby Mrozek <bby@earthlink.net>]

THEATRE COMPANY JERUSALEM in
ESTHER

Theatre Project presents, from Isreal, Theatre Company Jerusalem in
Esther.  Performances are Thursdays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at
3pm, March 11, 12, 16, 18 and 19, 2000 General admission tickets are $20
($18 for seniors 65+, $15 for students and children). Theatre Project is
located in Baltimore at 45 W. Preston Street (across Cathedral Street
from the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall).   Call the Theatre Project Box Office
at 410.752-8558.

Combining ancient Hebrew text and rituals with contemporary theatre
practices, Theatre Company Jerusalem brings the Purim Story vividly to
life.   How did Esther manage to capture the imagination of a people for
over 2000 years?  Why was her story almost not included in the Tanakh?
Why did she have to struggle to have her account accepted?  What made it
so important that when it was accepted, Jewish lore dictated that it
would be the only book of scriptures to remain after the coming of the
Messiah?  These and other questions are addressed from Theatre Company
Jerusalem's fresh perspective in the one-woman performance, Esther.  The
performance examines the timeless power struggles between good and evil,
man and woman, Jew and Gentile, man and the God.  Their relevance to
today is presented as Esther's method of uniting these opposites is
revealed.

Gabriella Lev1s Esther stands beside a ragtag trunk and challenges our
collective memory of the beautiful Queen and brilliant strategist who is
our quintessential heroine. With pieces of velvet and silk and gold lamé
like the Esther of ancient Persia, Lev transforms instantaneously from
storyteller to performer to shaman as she recreates the elements of a
story in a voice which has a thousand faces and which conveys all the
desire, fear, intrigue and danger of another place and another time when
the Jews were almost obliterated.
        
The original Hebrew of the Megilla is contrasted to the telling of
aggadic fragments; the written text to the spoken personal anecdote; the
word to the wordless primal laugh.  A poetic fusion is created by
layering of these different elements to deconstruct and reanimate the
ancient text in light of the experience of our generation as it lends a
new generative power to the story.

Theatre Company Jerusalem fuses contemporary theater with ancient Hebrew
and Aramaic writings to create a dynamic new theatrical art, relevant to
modern-day questions and dilemmas.  Gabriella Lev, instigated the
formation of the company, and was joined by  Aliza Elion-Israeli, Ruth
Wieder Magan and Joyce Miller. Together, they wished to respond to the
need to search for a distinctly Israeli theatre form - one which is
reflective of  Jerusalem1s cultural and geographical context and is not
merely a pale reflection of the Western theatre tradition.   Theatre
Company Jerusalem has received national and international awards
including: The United Nations Prize in the Year of the Woman, The Acco
Alternative Theatre Festival Prize, and the Edinburgh Fringe First
Prize.