Habima Theatre
Habima National Theatre (Template:Lang-he, lit. "The Stage"), located in Tel Aviv, is Israel's national theatre and one of the first Hebrew language theatres.
History
Habima was founded by Nahum Zemach in Moscow soon after the 1905 revolution. Because its performances were in Hebrew and it dealt with issues of the Jewish people, it met with persecution by the Czarist government. Beginning in 1918, it operated under the auspices of the Moscow Art Theatre, which some consider its true beginning. It encountered difficulties under the Soviet government as well after the Russian Revolution.[1] Stanislavski arranged for the mainly Jewish Polish actors to be trained by Yevgeny Vakhtangov. The People's Commissar of Nationalities Affairs, Joseph Stalin, also authorized the theatre's creation.
In 1926, the theatre left the Soviet Union to tour abroad, including in the United States. Zemach and some actors stayed in New York, where their productions had met with success. Their productions included plays from the Jewish folk tradition, and they were performed in Hebrew. The company split up, with some members choosing to stay in New York.
Other members of the theatre took the company to Mandate Palestine in 1928.[2] At that time the Habima Players invited director Aleksei Dikiy from the Moscow Art Theatre to help them. Dikiy directed two successful plays for Habima: one was Der Oytser (The Treasure), a play in Yiddish by Sholom Aleichem, which premiered on December 29, 1928. The second was The Crown, a play by David Calderon that premiered on May 23, 1929 in Tel Aviv. With the success of Dikiy's directorship in the season of 1928/29, Habima gained reputation as a national Jewish theatre with a permanent repertoire and stage in Tel Aviv.
The image of actress Hana Rovina starring as Leah'le in the historical Habima production of S. Ansky's The Dybbuk (performed by Habima in the Hebrew-language translation by Hayyim Nahman Bialik) is a cultural icon that to many represents Jewish and Israeli theatre.
In 1945, the company built a theate in Tel Aviv, which it occupied before completion.[2] Habima has been officially considered the national theatre of Israel since 1958, the year in which it received the Israel Prize for theatre.[3] This was the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization. In the 21st century, Habima employs 80 actors, and another 120 staff members work at the complex.
Building renovations
The theatre is currently undergoing renovations from the foundations up, with designs by architect Ram Karmi.[4] More than NIS 100 million has been invested in the vast makeover, which has added 500 square meters of floor space and three new rehearsal rooms. The building's four auditoriums have been completely rebuilt.[5]
Other theaters
- Solomon Stramer's Yiddish theater troupe in Cluj, Transylvania, Romania in the 1920s was also called Habimah.
See also
References
- ^ "Habima in New York: The Origin and Early History of the Habima", Museum of Family History, accessed 6 Sep 2010
- ^ a b Heinz Politzer, "Habimah in New York: A Great Theater Enters a New Period", Commentary Magazine, Aug 1948, accessed 6 Sep 2010
- ^ "Israel Prize recipients in 1958 (in Hebrew)". Israel Prize Official Site. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010 by WebCite.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archivedate=(help) - ^ Zipi Shohat, "A new stage for Habima", Haaretz
- ^ Habima architect tells critics: 'Kiss my ass'
