Avraham Oz (born May 23, 1944) is an Israeli Professor Emeritus of

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

. He has also translated several English literary works into Hebrew, and is a well-known

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

. He specializes in English theatre and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, political theatre, and theatre theory.Faculty member webpage at the

, accessed 26 Sept. 2007.

Early life and education

Avraham Oz was born 23 May 1944 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. He earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English literature and theatre arts (1967) and a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English literature (1970) from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in English literature (1980) from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Career

He has taught at the

, and the

Beit Zvi Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and a Theater ( he, בית צבי) is an acting school, and a theater located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950. History Beit Zvi is the country's first theater school ...

School of Dramatic Art; Hakibbutzim Seminar College and

Sapir Academic College Sapir College ( he, המכללה האקדמית ספיר, ''HaMikhlela HaAkademit Sapir'') is a college in Israel, located in the northwestern Negev desert near Sderot. It is the largest public college in Israel, with an enrollment of 8,000 stude ...

, and as a visiting lecturer at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. He also, for many years, served as an associate artistic director at the

Cameri Theatre The Cameri Theater ( he, התיאטרון הקאמרי, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. History The Cameri theater was found ...

, and dramaturg at the

Haifa Municipal Theatre Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...

. In 2010, he was a founding member of the Academy of Performing Arts, Tel Aviv, which combines professional training with studies towards a BA degree, in cooperation with the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel ( he, האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CH ...

. He serves at the Academy of Performing Arts, Tel Aviv as a professor of theatre and a stage director. From 1982 to 1986, he served as the Head of the Department of Theatre Arts,

. In 1984, he founded and edited ''Assaph: Theatre Studies'' published by

; in 1994, he founded the Department of Theatre at the

and served as its first chairman, and in 1995, he edited ''JTD: Journal of Theatre and Drama'', published by the

. From 2000 until its closure in 2004, he served as the director of the Haifa University Theatre. In 2007, he founded ''Mofa'', an electronic journal for theatre and the performing arts, for which he serves as an editor. Oz is also the general editor of the Hebrew edition (single volume series) of the works of

, and served as the president of the Israeli Association for Theatre Research (IATR). Oz directed several stage plays, among them, Shakespeare's ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' and ''Henry V'',

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

's ''Ashes to Ashes'', ''

Mountain Language ''Mountain Language'' is a one-act play written by Harold Pinter, first published in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (TLS) on 7–13 October 1988. It was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in London on 20 October 1988 with Mic ...

'', and ''

Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

'';

C. P. Taylor Cecil Philip Taylor (6 November 1929 – 9 December 1981) usually credited as C. P. Taylor, was a Scottish playwright. He wrote almost 80 plays during his 16 years as a professional playwright, including several for radio and television. He also ...

's ''

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

'', and his own play ''Glorious Mountain''. He is a resident director at the Alfa Theatre in

. His play ''Glorious Mountain'' (2021) is a historical fantasy on the first immigration to Palestine at the end of the

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

and the birth of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

. His play, ''Pipes'' (2023), depicts the assassination of

Jacob Israël de Haan Jacob Israël de Haan (31 December 1881 – 30 June 1924) was a Dutch Jewish literary writer, lawyer and journalist who immigrated to Palestine in 1919 and was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1924 by the Zionist paramilitary organization Haganah for ...

, the first political murder by Jews in modern Palestine. Among his many Hebrew translations of plays and operas, commissioned and performed by all major theatre companies in Israel and the

New Israeli Opera The Israeli Opera, formerly known as the New Israeli Opera, is the principal opera company of Israel. It was founded in 1985 after lack of Israeli government funding led to the demise of the Israel National Opera. Since 1994 the Tel Aviv Performin ...

, are: William Shakespeare's ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

'', ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...

'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', '' The Tempest'', ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

'', ''Henry V'', and ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'';

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's ''

Life of Galileo ''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a play by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and received its first theatri ...

'', ''The Wedding'', ''

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago m ...

'', ''

Three Penny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'', and ''The Rise and Fall of the City Mahogany'';

's ''

The Homecoming ''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 by Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony A ...

'', ''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Ofte ...

'', ''Landscape'', ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

'', '' One for the Road'', ''Ashes to Ashes'', ''The New World Order'', ''Party Time'', and ''Mountain Language'';

's ''Good''; Engelbert Humperdinck's '' Hänsel und Gretel''; '' Wild Honey'', an adaptation, by Michael Frayn, of an untitled work by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

; and ''

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...

'', by

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

, as adapted by

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously k ...

; and

Peter Turrini Peter Turrini (born 26 September 1944 in Wolfsberg, Carinthia) is an Austrian playwright known for his socio-critical work and earlier folk-dramas. Born in Carinthia, Turrini has been writing since 1971, when his play ''Rozznjogd'' premiered at ...

's ''Figaro''.Austrian

Leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

playwright

's adaptation ''Figaro'', composed in German and entitled ''Der tollste Tag'' (written 1972; first performed 1973), is a free adaptation of the Figaro motif from

Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, ...

' trilogy '' Le Barbier de Seville'' and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's opera based on it (''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' 'Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata''. Oz was also previously a theatre critic for two of the major daily papers in Israel (''Lamerhav'', and later ''

Ha'aretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'') as well as on the Israeli National Radio. From 1968 to 1973, Oz served as a theatre editor for the literary magazine ''Akhshav, and'' had a weekly show on theatre on the Israeli National Radio from 1968–1971, and edited and presented several TV series on theatre and William Shakespeare.

Activism

Oz is an internationally known

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He is a founding member of the Committee for Solidarity with

Birzeit University Birzeit University (BZU; ar, جامعة بيرزيت) is a public university in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Mi ...

and the Committee Against the War in Lebanon. He has organized, spoken, and written extensively on subjects relating to achieving peace in the Middle East and ending the

Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine that have been Military occupation, militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including E ...

. In the spring of 2005, in a letter opposing a proposed UK academic boycott of Israeli universities (including his home institutions, the

and

), he stated: "Whenever asked, over the last few years I expressed my opinion that even though the repressive policies of sraelagainst the Palestinian population, especially in the territories occupied in 1967, is appalling, racist, sometimes horrifying in its cruelty, and often having crossed the boundaries of war crimes, academic boycott was neither morally justified nor effective." In the official biography of the Late Nobel Prize laureate

by Michael Billington, the famous playwright is quoted as having written, in 2005, to Oz: "Let's keep fighting!".

Personal life

He is married to Israeli theatre designer and translator Tal Itzhaki, the director of the Academy of Performing Arts, Tel Aviv.

Bibliography

;Author *''Shetar hi-hidah'' (''The Riddle Bond: Studies in'' The Merchant of Venice) Tel Aviv: Hakibutz Hameuchad, 1990. (In Hebrew). *''The Yoke of Love: Prophetic Riddles in "The Merchant of Venice"'' (Newark, London and Toronto:

University of Delaware Press The University of Delaware Press (UDP) is a publishing house and a department of the University of Delaware in the United States, whose main campus is at Newark, Delaware, where the University Press is also based. Established in the early 1970s ...

, 1995. (10). (13). *''ha-Te'atron ha-politi : hasva'ah, meha'ah, nevu'ah'' (''Political Theatre''). Tel Aviv: Dvir/Haifa University Press, 1999. (In Hebrew). *''ha-Yetsirah ha-Sheḳspirit'' (''Shakespeare''). Tel Aviv : Miśrad ha-biṭaḥon, 2006. (In Hebrew.)
ha-Yetsirah ha-Sheḳspirit
', library online catalogue entry, The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, accessed 30 Sept. 2007. *''Sadot u-Mizvadot: Tesot al Hadrama ha-Ivrit ve-Hasiper ha-Zioni'' (''Fields and Luggage: Theses on Hebrew Drama and the Zionist Narrative''). Tel Aviv : Resling, 2014. (In Hebrew.) ;Editor *''Strands Afar Remote: Israeli Perspectives on Shakespeare''. International Studies in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries ser. Wilmington, DE: U of Delaware P, 1998. (10). (13). *''Marlowe''. New Casebooks ser. New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. (10). (13). * ith Susan Haedicke, Deirdre Heddon, and E.J. Westlake">E.J._Westlake.html" ;"title="ith Susan Haedicke, Deirdre Heddon, and E.J. Westlake">ith Susan Haedicke, Deirdre Heddon, and E.J. Westlake' Political Performances: Theory and Practice''. New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2009.

Notes

External links

"Avraham Oz"
– Biography in the ''Bio-Bibliographical Lexicon of Modern Hebrew Literature'' (in Hebrew).
The Committee Against the War in Lebanon
– Official website.
Committee for Solidarity with Bir Zeit University
– Official website.
Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace – UK
– Official website; hyperlinks ("Past Events": 1b: "The AUT boycott debate" April – May 2005).
"The Israeli Association for Theatre Research (IATR):
2006 annual meeting Thursday, 2 March 2006 Israel," article about the Israeli Association for Theatre Research (IATR), by Avraham Oz, in "News: Conferences & Symposiums," ''All About Jewish Theatre'', ''Jewish-theatre.com''.
"Professor Avraham Oz"
– Associate Professor, Department of Theatre,

, Faculty member webpage (in English); hyperlinked
Curriculum vitae
'. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oz, Avraham 1944 births Living people People from Tel Aviv Israeli theatre directors Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Academic staff of the University of Haifa Academic staff of Sapir Academic College