Ohel Theatre (, ''Teat'ron 'Ohel'') was a Hebrew-language theatre company, active between 1925–1969 in

Mandate 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 i ...

and

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 ...

History

Ohel (Hebrew for "tent"), originally known as the Workers' Theatre of Palestine, was established in 1925 as a socialist theatre: members of the company combined acting with farming and industrial labour. The theatre, founded by Moshe Halevy, who had been a founding member of

Habimah The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

in Moscow, was organised as a collective.The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Europe
/ref> The theatre's first production was a

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 ...

adaptation of stories by the

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

writer I. L. Peretz. ''Peretz's Parties'' depicted the decadence of life in the Diaspora, compared to new Jewish life in the Land of Israel. In 1927, it staged ''Dayagim'' ("Fishermen"), a socialist play about the exploitation of fishermen by entrepreneurs.Ohel
/ref> Set designers who worked with the company in its early years were European-trained painters and architects, among them architect Aryeh Elhanani, expressionist painter Israel Paldi and Menachem Shemi, a painter of the

Paris school The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

, as well as other important artists such as

Reuven Rubin Reuven Rubin ( he, ראובן רובין; November 13, 1893 – October 13, 1974) was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania. Biography Rubin Zelicovici (later Reuven Rubin) was born in Galaţi to a poor Rom ...

and

Arie Aroch Arie Aroch (in Hebrew אריה ארוך; born 1908, in Russia – October 15, 1974, in Israel) was an Israeli painter and diplomat born in Kharkiv, which was part of the Russian Empire. Aroch's work was a mixture of Pop Art and abstract art, a ...

. On a successful European tour in 1934, Ohel staged biblical and national plays. When the company returned to Palestine, it produced ''

The Good Soldier Schweik ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1935), one of its most successful offerings. In 1961, Ohel staged a comedy by

Ephraim Kishon Ephraim Kishon (: August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satirists in Israel, and was also particula ...

, ''Ha-Ketubbah'' ("The Marriage Contract"), which played for three seasons. Until 1958, Ohel was the official theatre of the Histadrut, the General Labor Federation.The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, ed. Martin Banham
/ref> In 1964, under a new artistic director, Canadian-born Peter Frye, the company performed ''Ammekha'' by Scholem Aleichem, plays by Ionesco,

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 p ...

, and young British playwrights. The theatre closed in 1969.

References

External links

Vision Hospitality: Ohel Theater
{{authority control Jewish theatres Theatre companies in Israel Israeli culture

History

See also

References

External links